Union of Right-Wing Parties
Israeli electoral alliance
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The Union of Right-wing Parties (Hebrew: איחוד מפלגות הימין, Ihud Miflagot HaYamin) was a short-lived electoral alliance of right-wing to far-right religious Zionist parties which included HaBayit HaYehudi, Otzma Yehudit, and Tkuma. The list was created ahead of the April 2019 Israeli legislative election[2] after Benjamin Netanyahu, urged The Jewish Home to accept Otzma Yehudit and Tkuma as part of its list for the April election, to avoid loss of votes by the right-wing bloc and International Criminal Court arrest warrants for Israeli officials.[3][4][5][6][7][8] The alliance gained five seats in the April election.[9]
Union of Right-wing Parties איחוד מפלגות הימין | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Leader | Rafi Peretz |
| Founded | 21 February 2019 |
| Dissolved | 14 July 2020 |
| Headquarters | Airport City, Israel[1] |
| Ideology | Religious Zionism Religious conservatism National conservatism Social conservatism Orthodox interests Settler interests Factions: Ultranationalism |
| Political position | Right-wing to far-right |
| Religion | Orthodox Judaism |
| National affiliation | Yamina (2019, 2020) |
| Member parties | Jewish Home National Union Otzma Yehudit (2019) |
| Election symbol | |
| טב | |
| Website | |
| hayemin | |
Otzma Yehudit left the union on 5 July 2019, citing disagreements with the party, such as the refusal of URWP members to resign to allow Itamar Ben-Gvir to become a Knesset member. In addition, Otzma was unwilling to leave Baruch Marzel and Benzi Gopstein off the electoral slate, as Rafi Peretz demanded.[10]
For the September 2019 election, the URWP ran on a joint list, called Yamina,[11] with the New Right,[12] to get both to pass the 3.25% threshold to enter the Knesset, after the New Right failed to pass the threshold in the April election.[13] The parties later split,[14] though Yamina re-formed for the 2020 Israeli legislative election.[15]
Background
In January 2019, Tkuma and Otzma entered talks to form a joint list;[16] however, the talks ultimately failed on 11 February 2019.[17]
On 12 February 2019, Otzma Yehudit entered talks with the Jewish Home party to reach an agreement on a joint list.[18]
On 15 February 2019, Tkuma and the Jewish Home party agreed to a form a list again, with Tkuma getting every other seat on the list.[19]
On 19 February 2019, it was reported that negotiations between Otzma Yehudit and the Jewish Home were deadlocked.[20]
On 20 February 2019, both Otzma Yehudit and the Jewish Home agreed to terms to form a list, after Netanyahu had promised the Jewish Home ministerial positions in exchange for uniting with Otzma Yehudit.[21] In order to facilitate this deal, Netanyahu also gave Jewish Home candidate Eli Ben-Dahan a position on the Likud party list, and formed a surplus-vote agreement between Likud and the URWP.[22]
The party attempted to get Yachad to join the technical list, but negotiations failed, due to the rabbi of Yachad, Rabbi Meir Mazuz, rejecting it,[23] although Eli Yishai, the head of Yachad, has claimed that Aryeh Deri vetoed Yishai's potential ministerial appointment.[24]
Otzma Yehudit announced on 25 June that it would leave the technical bloc over the refusal of the Jewish Home party to seat Itamar Ben-Gvir in the Knesset using the Norwegian law.[25]
On 29 July 2019, the URWP and the New Right reached a final agreement on joint run, with the New Right's Ayelet Shaked leading the joint list, which is[26] named Yamina.[27]
On 15 September, two days before the election, Yamina filed a motion to split back to the New Right and Jewish Home–National Union. Shaked made a last ditch attempt to keep them together, without success.[28]
Controversy
Due to the Kahanist ideology of Otzma Yehudit, there was controversy surrounding Netanyahu attempting to get Otzma Yehudit to run on a list with the Jewish Home party, which led to it being condemned by the American Jewish Committee,[29] the Anti-Defamation League,[30] and the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.[31] Yifat Erlich, who was formerly on the slate for The Jewish Home, left the party over the union with Otzma Yehudit.[32]
Michael Ben-Ari, who was placed fifth on the URWP list as part of Otzma Yehudit, was banned from running for the Knesset on 17 March 2019 by the Supreme Court of Israel.[33]
Composition
| Name | Ideology | Position | Leader | 21st Knesset Results | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Jewish Home | Religious Zionism, Religious conservatism | Right-wing to far-right | Rafi Peretz | 3 / 120 | |
| National Union | Religious Zionism, Ultranationalism | Right-wing to far-right | Bezalel Smotrich | 2 / 120 | |
| Otzma Yehudit | Kahanism, Ultranationalism | Far-right | Itamar Ben-Gvir | 0 / 120 | |
Leaders
| Leader | Took office | Left office | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
Rafi Peretz | 2019 | 2020 | |
Knesset election results
| Election | Leader | Votes | % | Seats | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| April 2019 | Rafi Peretz | 159,468 (#8) | 3.70% | 5 / 120 |
Caretaker government |
Knesset members
| Year | Members | Total |
|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Rafi Peretz, Bezalel Smotrich, Moti Yogev, Ofir Sofer, Idit Silman | 5 |