The Jewish Home party headed by Givat Shmuel Mayor Yossi Brudny has called on Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked, the head of the newly formed Zionist Spirit party, to head a joint list of the two parties.
The call follows the disintegration of Shaked's pre-election pact with Yoaz Hendel and Zvi Hauser of the Derekh Eretz party, reportedly owing at least in part to the demand of the Jewish Home party that Shaked part ways with Hendel and Hauser and create a more religiously oriented party list. "We will not be a fig-leaf for a secular party," Jewish Home representatives had warned Shaked.
According to other sources, including those within Zionist Spirit, the rift was due to a difference of opinion regarding the question of forming a narrow right-wing government headed by Netanyahu as opposed to allowing yet another stalemate to arise in Israeli politics and dragging the country into yet another round of elections. Shaked reportedly refused to countenance the idea of new elections and wanted to ensure that her potential partners would agree to enter a Netanyahu-led coalition. Hauser and Hendel would not agree.
Following news of the split between Shaked and Derekh Eretz, Jewish Home issued a statement saying that, "The Religious-Zionist Jewish Home party [not to be confused with the Religious Zionism party] congratulates Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked on her announcement and calls on her to head a joint list
"Such a list will be the home for the right-wing of the national camp and of hundreds of thousands of members of the Religious-Zionist community. Only by unifying will this broad sector have a political, right-wing, Zionist home. Our unity is our strength."
Shaked and Jewish Home have until Thursday to reach a decision and submit their lists before the deadline.