Bennett to run as head of New Right Party, Shaked eyes Likud

Shaked ran in the April election on The New Right ticket that did not cross the threshold.

By GIL HOFFMAN, TOVAH LAZAROFF
Ayelet Shaked at a meeting, January 17th, 2019 (photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)
Ayelet Shaked at a meeting, January 17th, 2019
(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)
Education Minister Naftali Bennett plans to run in the upcoming election as the head of the New Right party, political sources told The Jerusalem Post on Thursday night.
A Jerusalem Post poll found that the New Right Party with Bennett and Shaked would get five seats, while an initial media poll published on Channel 11’s KAN News showed that his party would get four seats, enough to pass the threshold and enter the Knesset.
In the last election, he ran together with Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked. Their party fell short, ganging only three seats, which meant they were excluded from the 21st Knesset.
This time around Shaked is not immediately joining Bennett in the New Right party, according to the sources. She is reportedly first exploring the possibility of joining the Likud party. But it is not clear if those talks will be successful or what choices she might make if they fail.
Bennett has held talks with parties, including Zehut, headed by Moshe Feiglin, to explore the possibility of a technical party bloc, that would ensure his passage into the Knesset. In that instance his party would remain intact, but the bloc might take on another name.
Shaked told a group of religious Zionist women at the Gula Club in Petah Tikva on Wednesday that she intends to return to politics and would run in the next election.
The event took place before it was known whether Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would succeed in forming a coalition or initiate elections.
Sources close to her said that she had time to decide. The head of the Likud central committee, Social Welfare Minister Haim Katz, called upon Netanyahu on Thursday to welcome Shaked to the Likud.
“She is fitting and has electoral value that will strengthen the Likud,” Katz said.
Netanyahu has reportedly decided to offer her a reserved slot on the Likud list. But his wife, Sara, is said to still oppose the move.
Katz also wants the central committee to approve the agreement reached by the Likud to run together with Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon’s Kulanu Party in the September 17 election. He intends to meet with Netanyahu to set a date for the meeting.


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