
Yamina party head Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked is planning to deliver a public statement within the next few days, outlining her plans for the party's future in an effort to halt its continued decline in the polls, given that most polls conducted recently have shown Yamina failing to cross the electoral threshold.
According to Reshet Bet, Shaked is currently conducting negotiations with Communications Minister Yoaz Hendel and MK Zvi Hauser (both of the New Hope party and unlikely to be part of the faction's joint run with the Blue & White party headed by Benny Gantz). Shaked is also discussing future plans with the Jewish Home party, and has met with former Yamina MK Nir Orbach several times recently. Shaked would like to see Orbach returning to Yamina, but no settlement has been reached thus far.
On Friday, a poll published in the Maariv newspaper gave Yamina four seats (the minimum to enter the Knesset) in a hypothetical joint run between Shaked and Handel and Hauser's Derekh Eretz party.
Meanwhile, journalist Arnon Segal has announced his intention to stand in the primaries for the Religious Zionism party headed by MK Bezalel Smotrich. Segal is a prominent right-winger and one of the leaders of the Temple Mount movement who has vigorously promoted Jews ascending to the Mount in recent years.
"It's time to repeal the 'grandson section' of the Law of Return," Segal said in a discussion of his intentions, referring to a section of the law that grants people Israeli citizenship based on having just one Jewish grandparent out of four, even if the person is not Jewish according to halakhah (Jewish law). "Only Jews who are halakhically Jewish should be able to immigrate to Israel," he continued. "As for infiltrators, the government should be acting more decisively to send them back home.
"We also need to take action to ensure that police, security forces, and other law enforcement agencies actually uphold the law and protect the dignity of good citizens," Segal added. "They need to learn the difference between friends and enemies."
Segal is also promoting reforms to the Chief Rabbinate. "The time has come for the Chief Rabbinate to return to its original purpose -- being a spiritual and religious guide to the country's citizens."