Naftali Bennett
Naftali BennettMiriam Alster/Flash 90

Jewish Home party leader Naftali Bennett on Sunday morning led party members in praising the decision by the Tekuma/National Union faction to formally unite with his party, ending weeks of speculation over a possible split.

"We are greater together than apart and we have great tasks ahead of us," Bennett said."The Land of Israel, its character and its security are at stake, and only together can we withstand those missions and lead the people of Israel."

Deputy Religious Affairs Minister Rabbi Eli Ben-Dahan - who bolted Tekuma and joined the Jewish Home in order to run in party primaries as rumors of a split persisted - also hailed the decision.

"I am glad that the greater good and the good of the people of Israel prevailed and the members of Tekuma chose... unity with the Jewish Home," he said following the vote by Tekuma's central committee Saturday night.

"In the merit of this unity, the (religious-Zionist) public with God's help will remain cohesive and large, and will thereby succeed in facing the challenges ahead which will face us in the next Knesset; to protect the unity of the country and to protect the Jewish identity of the State of Israel and the status-quo on issues of religion and state," he added.

Last night's Tekuma central committee meeting came after the faction's MKs were split on the issue of leaving the Jewish Home party. The faction, which broadly identifies with the so-called "hareidi-Zionist" or "hardal" public, had then turned to its newly-appointed council of rabbis for guidance, but their opinion was also split - although the majority favored unity.

Tekuma/National Union had united with the Jewish Home party prior to the previous elections, uniting the religious-Zionist camp and significantly strengthening its showing in the Knesset. But some tension between the factions surfaced both due to Knesset seat allocations and due to some opposition to Bennett's push to include more secular candidates in the party's Knesset list.