United Right - New Right leaders meet
United Right - New Right leaders meetצילום: ללא קרדיט

With the Thursday night deadline for registering party lists for the next Knesset election fast approaching, the United Right alliance has issued a new set of demands to the Likud in exchange for including the Otzma Yehudit party in the joint list.

According to a report by Kan Wednesday afternoon, the United Right – an alliance of the New Right, Jewish Home, and National Union factions – has responded to pressure from Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to take in the Otzma Yehudit faction with a new list of demands.

Until now, talks between Otzma and the United Right have remained deadlocked, after Otzma turned down an offer to place one candidate on the eighth slot on the joint Knesset list, and a second on the 16th spot.

Now, the United Right appears prepared to accept accept Otzma Yehudit candidate Itamar Ben-Gvir’s demand that he be placed on the fifth spot on the list – but only in exchange for concessions from Netanyahu.

While in the previous election, the Likud included a Jewish Home candidate on its Knesset list, essentially giving the party an extra seat in the Knesset, the Likud has signaled its unwillingness to repeat the arrangement.

The United Right, according to the Kan report, has informed the Likud that it is willing to accept both Ben-Gvir’s demands and the Likud’s decision not to reserve a spot on its list for a Jewish Home candidate.

That acceptance, however, is conditioned on promises from the Prime Minister for two senior positions in the next government.

Netanyahu is said to have already promised the party two ministries – likely the Transportation and Education Ministries, which the party already holds.

In its new set of demands, the United Right has asked for two of the following ministries: Defense, Foreign Affairs, Finance, or the Justice Ministry.

Sources within the United Right responded to the report saying that the party had in fact asked for a reserved spot within the Likud, this time for an Otzma Yehudit candidate.

“The only thing we’ve requested from the Likud is a reserved spot on the list for Otzma Yehudit. If the Prime Minister wants to grant that, there’s no question he would succeed in [doing so].”