Far-right party Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Power) and national-religious HaBayit HaYehudi announced Feb. 20 that they will run on one ticket at the upcoming April elections in a merger endorsed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
But the addition of Otzma Yehudit to the bloc already formed between HaBayit HaYehudi and the National Union has caused a rift in the religious Zionist movement. Criticism among the movement’s more moderate circles focuses on the racist elements of the teachings of Rabbi Meir Kahane, founder of the Kach movement. The members of Otzma Yehudit regard themselves as his students.