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Fragments of Israeli rightwing parties gamble on merging ahead of elections

The broken Yamina party and the two-member Derech Eretz party are hoping that their merger will get them into the next Knesset.
Shaked

Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked and Communications Minister Yoaz Hendel announced July 28 that their respective parties — Yamina and Derech Eretz — will run together at the upcoming Nov. 1 general elections, under the name "the Zionist Spirit." In recent surveys, Yamina polled bellow the 3.25% Knesset-entry threshold. Shaked hopes that the alliance with Hendel will get both parties into the parliament.

According to a July 24 poll, opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud gets 35 Knesset seats, largely preserving its status as the biggest party in the Knesset. But contrary to the solid Likud, the non-Netanyahu right is shaky. Thus, once again, it is trying to reinvent itself.

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