National Religious Party facing crisis
Failure of registration drive suggests pro-settler party could disappear from political scene
JERUSALEM - The National Religious Party registration drive, which started with a big bang two months ago, has turned into a major disappointment for the pro-settler party.
Just a week before the registration period ends, members of the religious party are calling for the drive to be frozen due to lack of public interest.
The pro-settler party, which was founded in 1956, faces a crucial crossroads and could even disappear from the political spectrum altogether, sources say.
Optimistic sources say the party's number of registered members ranges between 5,000 – 8,000. Party sources say voting contractors are withholding registration forms until the last day of the drive.
Just 12 years ago, when the party was in its heyday, there were 120,000 registered activists.
Pessimists say only 1,700 persons have signed up so far and are accusing party members Efi Eitam and Yitzhak Levy of deliberately hampering registration by calling on key NRP members to refrain from taking an active role.
Internal rift scaring away potential members
NRP sources fear a rift between the party's right-wing and more moderate camps is scaring potential members away from registering.
Eitam and Levy, who led the NRP charge to quit the government in November over Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's disengagement plan, are considering quitting the party to create a new right-wing party that would support their positions on the diplomatic front.
Party Chairman Zevulun Orlev is considered a more moderate figure who puts greater emphasis on education and other social issues related to maintaining the Jewish character of the state.
NRP leaders have an interest in attracting new members who will support them when the party holds its primary elections. In contrast, party officials unlikely to get support from new members are less likely to be active in the membership drive.
The slated disengagement plan from the Gaza Strip and parts of the West Bank seems to be shaking up the religious party that identifies strongly with the settlers.
Moreover, the chilly reception given Orlev at Saturday's right-wing demonstration against disengagement, where one would expect to find the NRP's natural constituency, seemed to reflect the public's lack of confidence in the party.
Orlev said he does not rule out the possibility that a failure to register party activists could prompt the party to join the ranks of a new national religious party.
