The central committee of the Jewish Home party is scheduled to convene for a special meeting in the town of Nehalim, near Petah Tikva, Wednesday night to discuss the party’s Knesset slate for the September 17th election.
The committee is expected to back retaining the same list of Knesset candidates the party used in the April 9th election. The committee’s decisions only impact the Jewish Home faction’s spots on the United Right joint ticket, which in April also included the National Union and Otzma Yehudit parties.
Once the party’s Knesset slate is approved, the Jewish Home will launch negotiations with other parties for the formation of a broad right-wing alliance with the New Right, National Union, Otzma Yehudit, and Zehut parties.
The parties would run as part of a technical bloc – a temporary alliance to ensure their entry into the 22nd Knesset. Following the election, the parties would then be free to break up into their separate factions.
Over the past few days, the leaders of all of the right-wing factions in question – except for Jewish Home chief Rafi Peretz – have stated either publicly in or closed-door talks that they would waive their demand to lead the united list for the sake of forming the broadest bloc possible.
Recent polls of both the Religious Zionist sector and right-wing voters in general show former Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked (New Right) as the most popular candidate to lead a joint rightist ticket.
Sources involved in the effort to united the right-wing bloc say Shaked would likely bring secular right-wing voters who would be unlikely to back a ticket led by a religious candidate, adding that a broad right-wing bloc would be far more effective in shaping the next coalition than the present United Right party, which won five seats.
If Shaked did lead the United Right, she would likely be followed on the Knesset list by Jewish Home chief Rafi Peretz, National Union chief Bezalel Smotrich, with former Education Minister Naftali Bennett in fourth.