Unity deal ‘likely’ between New Right, Bayit Yehudi, National Union
Peretz stated publicly on Thursday that he was offering New Right three spots in the top ten and that he and Shaked should meet again Thursday night.
By JEREMY SHARONAyelet Shaked and Rafi Peretz(photo credit: REUTERS & AVSHALOM SASSONI/MAARIV)
A unity deal on the right-wing between New Right together with Bayit Yehudi and National Union by the beginning of next week now looks likely sources in the parties have said.Progress has been made over the last two days towards an agreement and it now appears probable that Bayit Yehudi leader and Education Minister Rabbi Rafi Peretz will concede top spot on the list to New Right chair Ayelet Shaked.Shaked on her part said on Thursday that she was dropping New Right’s demand for half of all places on a joint list.According to the developing agreement, Shaked will be placed first, Peretz second, National Union leader Betzalel Smotrich third, and New Right co-founder Naftali Bennett fourth.Peretz stated publicly on Thursday that he was offering New Right three spots in the top ten and that he and Shaked should meet again Thursday night to discuss who gets to lead the political union.A senior source in Bayit Yehudi told The Jerusalem Post that the current proposal was for Bayit Yehudi and National Union, who have already concluded a unity deal, to get five seats in the top ten, New Right to get four, with one spot left over for a potential deal with the far-right Otzmah Yehudit party.The source said that Peretz had not yet decided to give up his top spot, but opined that it would be “sensible” to do so.A source in New Right said that they believed a unity deal between New Right and the Bayit Yehudi - National Union partnership would be agreed on by Sunday, and that “the gaps are not significant enough” to stall a deal beyond that timeframe.The source added that negotiations would then begin with Otmzah and Moshe Feiglin’s Zehut party, in that order.Kan News reported on Thursday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was still pressuring Bayit Yehudi and National Union to do a deal with Otzmah, and was even offering to give senior Otzmah figure Itama Ben Gvir a deputy ministerial role or make him head of Knesset committee.Netanyahu has denied involvement, saying he is “not getting involved in potential unions on the right.”Shaked said on Thursday during a press conference outside her Tel Aviv home that she sees the far-right Otzmah Yehudit party as part of her plans for a broad right-wing political union, and called for Bayit Yehudi to compromise after she expressed willingness to reduce her demands for the number of spots in the top ten.“Unity in the right is the order of the hour, the public won’t forgive anyone who prevents it,” she said speaking to the press outside her Tel Aviv home.“We have already compromised on the demands for alternating [equal number of spots on the list], the ball is now in the hand of the Union of Right Wing Parties,” she said in reference to Bayit Yehudi and National Union.“I call on them to agree to the proposal and come together as quickly as possible.”Asked about uniting with Otzmah as well, Shaked said “I see Otzmah as part of the big unification, and also [Moshe Feiglin’s] Zehut Party. My goal is to establish a big bloc of the entire ideological right.”
