The NRP announced this afternoon that at 3:30 PM, Orlev would appear before the National Union faction in the Knesset and present his proposal for a united party list for the coming election.
MK Gila Finkelstein (NRP) told Arutz-7 today, "We very much want a union between ourselves and the National Union, and there is a great need amidst our public for it. I know that the public wants it; I was at a wedding the other day, and when I came back to my place after the dancing, I saw a large note on my plate saying, We Want Unity... I very much hope that even today, we will hear of a renewal of the talks."
A major point of contention, Finkelstein said, is the topic of how many members of each party will man the joint list of Knesset candidates. The National Union currently has 6 MKs, and the NRP has 4, justifying a 60-40 proportion in the NU's favor. The NRP claims, however, that two of the NU's 6 were originally of the NRP, and that therefore the correct distribution should be 60-40 in the NRP's favor. A basic agreement of 50-50 has apparently been reached.
More problematic is the issue of the leader of the new list. Both sides accuse the other of reneging on an agreement on the matter. NRP sources say there was a previous agreement to decide the matter based on a third-party survey as to who - NU leader Benny Elon or NRP leader Orlev - is more popular, but that the NU has now changed its mind. The NU says there was no such agreement, and that on the contrary, Orlev agreed that the issue of the top spot would not be that which would cause the unification to fail.
Asi Talmon, a top aide to MK Tzvi Hendel (National Union) told Arutz-7, "There was never an agreement to have a survey; it was merely a proposal. What was agreed was that a National Union person would be first on the list... A Haaretz poll of a few days ago shows that the National Union would receive seven seats, while the NRP would receive three."
Rabbi Shabtai Sabato, head of the Netivot Yosef yeshiva in Mitzpeh Yericho, was influential in formulating a call by leading rabbis in the religious-Zionist camp for unity between the two parties. Asked today if the rabbis are actively involved in the unity efforts, he said,
"There are two planes. One is for a unity between these two parties, for which first a group of 15 rabbis called, and then a larger group of 50 confirmed it. In addition, former Chief Rabbis Ovadiah Yosef, Mordechai Eliyahu and Avraham Shapira are attempting to see if all the religious parties can join up together in one bloc... I can tell you that if the National Union-NRP merger doesn't work, some real efforts are underway to join Shas and the NRP..."
Asked if the rabbis could not take a more active stance, such as pressuring certain MKs, Rabbi Sabato said,
"The rabbis need not be associated with politicking, political pressures, and the like.
Their job is to inspire the right atmosphere. They made their position known, and that should be enough. The more public calls they make, the cheaper the calls become."
MK Gila Finkelstein (NRP) told Arutz-7 today, "We very much want a union between ourselves and the National Union, and there is a great need amidst our public for it. I know that the public wants it; I was at a wedding the other day, and when I came back to my place after the dancing, I saw a large note on my plate saying, We Want Unity... I very much hope that even today, we will hear of a renewal of the talks."
A major point of contention, Finkelstein said, is the topic of how many members of each party will man the joint list of Knesset candidates. The National Union currently has 6 MKs, and the NRP has 4, justifying a 60-40 proportion in the NU's favor. The NRP claims, however, that two of the NU's 6 were originally of the NRP, and that therefore the correct distribution should be 60-40 in the NRP's favor. A basic agreement of 50-50 has apparently been reached.
More problematic is the issue of the leader of the new list. Both sides accuse the other of reneging on an agreement on the matter. NRP sources say there was a previous agreement to decide the matter based on a third-party survey as to who - NU leader Benny Elon or NRP leader Orlev - is more popular, but that the NU has now changed its mind. The NU says there was no such agreement, and that on the contrary, Orlev agreed that the issue of the top spot would not be that which would cause the unification to fail.
Asi Talmon, a top aide to MK Tzvi Hendel (National Union) told Arutz-7, "There was never an agreement to have a survey; it was merely a proposal. What was agreed was that a National Union person would be first on the list... A Haaretz poll of a few days ago shows that the National Union would receive seven seats, while the NRP would receive three."
Rabbi Shabtai Sabato, head of the Netivot Yosef yeshiva in Mitzpeh Yericho, was influential in formulating a call by leading rabbis in the religious-Zionist camp for unity between the two parties. Asked today if the rabbis are actively involved in the unity efforts, he said,
"There are two planes. One is for a unity between these two parties, for which first a group of 15 rabbis called, and then a larger group of 50 confirmed it. In addition, former Chief Rabbis Ovadiah Yosef, Mordechai Eliyahu and Avraham Shapira are attempting to see if all the religious parties can join up together in one bloc... I can tell you that if the National Union-NRP merger doesn't work, some real efforts are underway to join Shas and the NRP..."
Asked if the rabbis could not take a more active stance, such as pressuring certain MKs, Rabbi Sabato said,
"The rabbis need not be associated with politicking, political pressures, and the like.
Their job is to inspire the right atmosphere. They made their position known, and that should be enough. The more public calls they make, the cheaper the calls become."