Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is concerned that the launch of a new party by former Jewish Home ministers Naftali Bennett and Ayelet Shaked could cause a number of smaller right-wing factions to fail to reach the minimum threshold, crippling the right and leading to the election of a left-wing government, Israel Hayom reported Monday.
On Saturday night, Bennett and Shaked announced plans to break away from the Jewish Home and form a new party, called the New Right (Hayamin Hahadash).
The first polls conducted after the announcement show the new faction winning anywhere from six to 14 seats. Most of the seats the New Right is projected to win come at the expense of the Jewish Home, the Likud, and even the Yisrael Beytenu party.
As a result of the New Right’s entry into the race, some polls now show the Jewish Home and Yisrael Beytenu failing to cross the 3.25% electoral threshold. The haredi Shas party also is in danger of falling below the threshold, polls show.
In private conversations with senior Likud members, Prime Minister Netanyahu has expressed concern that the multiplicity of right-wing parties could result in multiple factions failing to cross the threshold, wasting large numbers of votes and giving the left-wing bloc a majority in the Knesset.
According to a report by Israel Hayom, Netanyahu warned Likud leaders that the formation of the New Right constituted a “mortal blow to the national camp, and is liable to lead to the establishment of a left-wing government.”
Netanyahu has yet to comment publicly on the new party, but has reportedly discussed the matter with Likud officials during his state visit to Brazil.