The Religious Zionist Party (RZP) on Wednesday unveiled its list of candidates for its upcoming primaries, which will determine the party’s Knesset slate ahead of the next elections.
The announcement comes ahead of the primary vote on Sunday, in which over 100 party committee members will cast their ballots in Jerusalem.
The far-right party is led by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who will remain in the first spot on the list and will also have the ability to select candidates for certain slots.
The primary candidates include members of Knesset who are currently on the party’s slate, along with new figures.
Candidates running who are currently members of the Knesset include National Missions Minister Orit Strock, along with MKs Michal Woldiger, Ohad Tal, Zvi Sukkot, and Simcha Rothman.
No requirement to hold primaries in Israel, RZP one of few
New figures running for spots on the list that were announced included Deputy Mayor of Petah Tikva Tzvika Weizengrad and Deputy Mayor of Rosh HaAyin Eitan Tam.
Others announced were Nathan Zauberman, leader of the Tikvah Program that works to bring young olim from France to Israel, Rabbi Shmuel Sasson, and Omer Rahamim, who is the director-general of the Yesha Council that represents West Bank settlements.
Parties are not required to hold primaries in Israel, and only a few do so.
RZP has also reserved a slot on the party’s slate for Zvika Mor, father of former hostage Eitan Mor.
Mor’s son Eitan was working as a security guard at the Supernova music festival when Hamas invaded on October 7, 2023, and kidnapped him. Eitan was held captive for two years and released as part of the US-brokered ceasefire deal in October 2025.
Mor, 49, is the chairman of the Tikva Forum, which was founded by family members of hostages kidnapped into Gaza during the October 7 attacks. It holds a right-wing stance and, throughout the war, pushed against a partial hostage-ceasefire deal with the terror group.
A 'values-based' national voice
The Religious Zionist Party stated in May that Mor’s addition was intended to strengthen the list with a values-based national voice and to prevent “a return to dangerous conceptual failures that led to the October 7 attacks.”
Recent polls show the party just passing the electoral threshold and receiving approximately five seats. In the 2022 elections, RZP ran with the far-right Otzma Yehudit Party, led by Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.
Aliyah and Integration Minister Ofir Sofer, a current member of RZP, announced last week that he would not be running in the upcoming elections. MK Moshe Solomon from RZP also announced last week that he would not be running.
Solomon has been a vocal critic within the party of legislation supported by RZP that was recently passed in the Knesset, which opponents argue encourages draft evasion even amid the IDF’s severe manpower crisis.
Smotrich removed Solomon from his role in all Knesset committees last month as a disciplinary measure after Solomon voted against a separate contentious bill to enshrine Torah study in Basic Law.
RZP currently holds seven seats in the Knesset. Smotrich is also 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.
The far-right minister’s statements calling for West Bank annexation often draw sharp international condemnation, as well as criticism for harming Israel’s global standing.