Uncertainly abounds in the religious-Zionist camp regarding the coming elections. The National Religious Party (NRP) leadership will convene again today to discuss party leader Effie Eitam's desire to compose the party's Knesset list himself - or at least to propose such a list. He is also in favor of a merger with the National Union-Yisrael Beiteinu faction, and has reportedly threatened to resign if these demands are not met. MKs Zevulun Orlev and Nachum Langental are threatening to quit themselves if the NRP merges with a non-religious party.
MK Orlev told Arutz-7 today:
"Our leadership - Effie Eitam - doesn't have a mandate to bring about an end to the NRP and blur its identity as a religious-Zionist party. Nor do I think that this idea has a majority among MKs or in the Central Committee. I am against it both electorally and ideologically. Our ideology is sufficiently important that a party should be totally and exclusively dedicated only to that."
Orlev does believe, however, that a merger of all religious-Zionist entities - namely, Tekumah and Meimad - is something that must be pursued. (Tekumah is the religious-Zionist party that partnered with Moledet and Yisrael Beiteinu to form National Union-Yisrael Beiteinu, while Meimad is a left-wing religious-Zionist party.) Efforts to this effect have not yet been exhausted, and continued even today.
In the National Union, however, the merger is viewed positively. Party leader Avigdor Lieberman agreed to it two months ago, dismissing concerns that his non-religious party would clash with the NRP. Asked to explain the value of a merger of differing outlooks that might scare off voters who agree with only one side or the other, MK Tzvi Hendel explained:
"I believe with perfect faith that uniting all the forces in the nationalist camp will bring about a 'hitromemut ruach' - uplifting of the spirit. We must not waste our efforts on mutual recriminations. That's what happened during the last election, and we both [NRP and National Union] ended up losing Knesset seats. Now too, the recriminations of last week [regarding NRP accusations that NUYB was to blame for the new elections] have already caused losses to both of us. Polls of a week ago showed that we were getting 9-10 seats, and 4-5 for the NRP, while now we're down to 7 and they're down to 3. Our public doesn't like infighting."
MK Orlev told Arutz-7 today:
"Our leadership - Effie Eitam - doesn't have a mandate to bring about an end to the NRP and blur its identity as a religious-Zionist party. Nor do I think that this idea has a majority among MKs or in the Central Committee. I am against it both electorally and ideologically. Our ideology is sufficiently important that a party should be totally and exclusively dedicated only to that."
Orlev does believe, however, that a merger of all religious-Zionist entities - namely, Tekumah and Meimad - is something that must be pursued. (Tekumah is the religious-Zionist party that partnered with Moledet and Yisrael Beiteinu to form National Union-Yisrael Beiteinu, while Meimad is a left-wing religious-Zionist party.) Efforts to this effect have not yet been exhausted, and continued even today.
In the National Union, however, the merger is viewed positively. Party leader Avigdor Lieberman agreed to it two months ago, dismissing concerns that his non-religious party would clash with the NRP. Asked to explain the value of a merger of differing outlooks that might scare off voters who agree with only one side or the other, MK Tzvi Hendel explained:
"I believe with perfect faith that uniting all the forces in the nationalist camp will bring about a 'hitromemut ruach' - uplifting of the spirit. We must not waste our efforts on mutual recriminations. That's what happened during the last election, and we both [NRP and National Union] ended up losing Knesset seats. Now too, the recriminations of last week [regarding NRP accusations that NUYB was to blame for the new elections] have already caused losses to both of us. Polls of a week ago showed that we were getting 9-10 seats, and 4-5 for the NRP, while now we're down to 7 and they're down to 3. Our public doesn't like infighting."