The Religious Zionist Party (RZP), founded in 2021 as a successor to National Union-Tkuma, is one of the many parties vying for citizens’ votes in the election for the 26th Knesset, to be held on October 27.
Led by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, the RZP is considered a far-right, religious-nationalist party with a platform focused on Jewish identity, settlement expansion, Israeli sovereignty in the West Bank, security, and judicial reform.
In the 2022 election, a joint list with National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir’s Otzma Yehudit won 14 seats, seven of which the RZP held in the 25th Knesset.
However, Smotrich has said he intends for the RZP to run independently in the upcoming election. The finance minister recently told The Jerusalem Post that he believed his party could succeed running alone and did not consider Ben-Gvir a partner for a joint run.
While Smotrich will not run alongside Ben-Gvir, he has also ruled out relying on Arab parties to form a government.
In a previous statement, Smotrich has said that forming a government with the Arab party Ra’am would make for a worse situation than Hamas’s October 7 massacre.
The finance minister has faced criticism over state budgets approved during the government’s term, which allocated significant amounts of funding to the haredi (ultra-Orthodox) sector. He has also pushed for sweeping reforms in the country’s dairy sector, calling for lower milk and cheese prices by addressing monopolies that dominate the market.
The government did not pass the reforms during its term because of opposition within the coalition. Smotrich has called for continued efforts to advance the reforms and address the high cost of living by increasing free market competition.
Where the Religious Zionist Party stands on the major issues
In the context of Smotrich’s platform, at the RZP’s July 2026 election list launch, the politician told the Post that the party “strengthens the identity of the Jewish people.” He added that it would be working on security and “fixes to the judicial system.”
In a separate interview with the Post, he said the RZP was “committed to Israel’s security” and would seek to “put an end to the disastrous idea of dividing the land, handing over territory, and establishing a terrorist state in the heart of the Land of Israel.”
Notably, during the government’s term, Smotrich served as the head of the Settlements Administration, a Defense Ministry body established in 2023 that manages matters in West Bank settlements and advances construction and housing in the area.
In his capacity within this role, Smotrich has pushed to expand Israeli settlements in the West Bank. In July 2026, the government approved plans and funding for 34 new settlements, bringing the number initiated during his tenure to 103.
Similarly, Smotrich has stated that Israel should “return to the whole of Gaza in a big way,” and has called to “abolish the Oslo Accords” and dismantle the Palestinian Authority, replacing it with a military-governed administration before ultimately applying Israeli sovereignty.
The far Right minister’s statements calling for West Bank annexation often drew sharp international condemnation, as well as criticism for harming Israel’s global standing.
Additionally, the RZP has supported controversial haredi-backed legislation such as the bill to enshrine Torah study in the country’s Basic Law and the bill to freeze arrests of haredi draft evaders. Opponents argued the legislation encouraged draft evasion amid the IDF’s severe workforce crisis.
The RZP might continue supporting bills sponsored by haredi parties if both become part of the country’s next coalition.
WHILE SMOTRICH has declared his commitment to military service and said he would work on a framework for drafting haredim in the next term, his party has supported legislation sought by the haredi parties.
In June, six of the party’s seven MKs backed the proposed Basic Law enshrining Torah study as a fundamental value.
MK Moshe Solomon voted against it. Smotrich subsequently removed him from his Knesset committee positions.
Judicial reform and the role of the attorney-general
The RZP has consistently supported a significant restructuring of the judicial system, including limiting the Supreme Court’s ability to intervene in government decisions and giving elected officials greater influence over judicial appointments.
RZP MK Simcha Rothman, who chairs the Knesset Constitution, Law, and Justice Committee, has been central to advancing the reforms. Smotrich had previously instructed Rothman to advance legislation limiting the court’s use of the “reasonableness” standard.
Regarding the role of the attorney-general, Rothman advanced a bill to separate the roles of the government’s legal adviser, the head of the state prosecution, and the state’s representative in court.
Under that proposal, the government would appoint the attorney-general, and their legal opinions would no longer be binding. Rothman accelerated work on the bill in May 2026 as the coalition pushed to advance several controversial judicial reforms ahead of the election.
What a vote for this party is likely to produce
Smotrich has said the RZP will support Benjamin Netanyahu for prime minister and seek to continue the “national camp” partnership.
If Netanyahu can form a coalition, the RZP would likely seek to join a government alongside many of the parties that made up the current coalition, including the haredi parties, Shas, and United Torah Judaism. Netanyahu has been relying on these parties as key coalition partners.
Smotrich would be expected to continue pushing for West Bank annexation and expanded settlement construction. He has also advocated for increasing aliyah rates, telling the Post that he has been working on plans to encourage more Diaspora Jews to immigrate to Israel and provide them with additional benefits.
Despite his party’s support for haredi-backed legislation in the latest Knesset term, Smotrich told the Post in a recent interview that he believed haredim should be enlisted in the IDF, adding that if his party is part of the next coalition, it would seek to develop a framework for haredi enlistment.
Keshet Neev, Zvika Klein, and Sam Halpern contributed to this report.