Netanyahu paves way of radical-right party to enter Knesset

Just before last April’s election, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu forced the radical-right Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Power) party into the wavering arms of Rabbi Rafi Peretz, then-chairman of the religious right United Right party. By doing this, Netanyahu granted legitimacy to the violent, often feral disciples of the late Rabbi Meir Kahane, making them an inseparable part of the right-wing bloc that he so wanted to strengthen.

The merger of Otzma Yehudit with the other right-wing parties came to an end in the current election campaign. The leaders of Otzma Yehudit realized that they are deemed undesirable by at least some leaders of the religious right, so they decided to take advantage of the publicity and legitimacy, which Netanyahu offered them in April, and attempt to pass the voter threshold on their own.

According to the most recent polls, Otzma Yehudit is closer than ever to being elected to the Knesset. This leaves Netanyahu with a dilemma. He wants to increase the strength of his own Likud party, but he also wants to ensure that the right-wing bloc wins 61 seats. Should he try to thwart Otzma Yehudit’s efforts to get past the voter threshold, or should he throw the party a lifeline? In one interview, he did in fact call on right-wing voters not to cast their ballots for Otzma Yehudit, claiming that they would just be throwing their votes into the garbage. Then, in a second interview, he admitted that even polls commissioned by the Likud show Otzma Yehudit passing the electoral threshold.

The way things look now, Netanyahu selected the second option. He chose to help the party of Kahane’s disciples, so that it gets into the Knesset. He knows that if Otzma Yehudit does pass the electoral threshold and wins (at least) four seats, he is more likely to be asked by the president to form the next government. Still, that would just be the beginning of his problems.