Party registration begins Wednesday amid expectation of record low parties

Pirate party laments surplus in unwitting pirates

By GIL HOFFMAN
Updated: JULY 30, 2019 20:00
Israeli workers count ballots cast by Israeli soldiers and civil servants living overseas at the central elections committee building in the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, in Jerusalem March 18, 2015. (photo credit: AMMAR AWAD / REUTERS)
Israeli workers count ballots cast by Israeli soldiers and civil servants living overseas at the central elections committee building in the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, in Jerusalem March 18, 2015.
(photo credit: AMMAR AWAD / REUTERS)
The process of registering new political parties will begin on Wednesday amid expectations that the 22nd Knesset elected on September 17 will be the first with fewer than 10 factions.
There were 11 factions in the last Knesset, but 10 parties united over the past week – into the Democratic Union, Joint List and United Right – which could lead to a record low in Knesset.
After more than 60 parties took forms to register for the last election, this time, the number was only 42. A record 40 parties ended up running in the April 9 race.
The Central Elections Committee will greet parties registering from 11 a.m. on Wednesday to 10 p.m. on Thursday, and will assign them letters for their ballots on a first come, first served basis.
Parties began lining up to get their letters at the Knesset on Saturday night. The hardline religious-Zionist Noam Party was first in line, followed by former MK Moshe Feiglin’s Zehut Party and the Arab workers party, Da’am.
The list of parties running includes the Pirate Party, the new Democtatorship Party and the Bible Belt Party of American immigrant Dennis Avi Lipkin, which aims to prepare Israel for the mass immigration of Jews and Christians from the United States.
Pirate Party leader Noam Cozer told The Jerusalem Post that he will arrive at the Knesset on Wednesday in full pirate costume. But, while he usually shows up with a ship full of pirates, this time he might only bring his first mate.
“Too many people are on vacation abroad, five of our 10 founders left the country for good and others need to stay home watching their kids,” Cozer lamented. “There is a shortage of pirates available in Israel and a surplus of politicians who are pirates, but don’t realize it.”


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