Ayelet Shaked
Ayelet ShakedFlash 90

Amit Segal, Channel 12's political analyst, believes that former Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked (New Right) is the only one who can unite Religious Zionism.

In an article in Yediot Aharonot, Segal discussed the failing attempts to unite the smaller right-wing parties prior to the upcoming elections.

He noted that United Right leaders Rabbi Rafi Peretz and Bezalel Smotrich have spent "this past week in an argument, and [New Right leader] Naftali Bennett published a profound and justified piece against MK Moti Yogev and his self-righteous eyerolling."

"This isn't a post, it's a post-mortem: If Bennett had done this two years ago, he would have rehabilitated the Jewish Home. Now, it's just venting frustrations and preventing the necessary unification.

"The fastidious Religious Zionism still has a goal of voting for a party that represents pure truth. That's not how politics work. Anyone who isn't willing to live with a knitted kippah (skullcap - ed.) that's a different color than his own will find himself outside the Knesset or with the science portfolio.

"But right now the more religious Religious Zionists aren't willing to vote for Bennett's party, the less religious ones aren't willing to help make Smotrich a minister, and both of them are repulsed by [Zehut leader Moshe] Feiglin.

"It's not surprising that the only figure who can currently unite Religious Zionism is actually a secular woman: Ayelet Shaked, who strangely enough is accepted by the more religious sector a lot more than Bennett is. In two separate polls, she received the support of the absolute most Religious Zionists, who want her to lead.

"She's facing a fork in the road: She can stay home this time around (which she probably won't), she can run at the head of the New Right and its technical bloc with Feiglin (could be, but that's dangerous), or she can head the United Right - parties which together won 12 Knesset seats in April's elections. That's the logical choice, and Shaked will have to decide, at the latest, by next week."