Down to the wire: Knesset election slates take shape as deadline nears

Less than two weeks before the deadline for parties to submit their candidate slates for the Knesset election, the political map is beginning to take shape, though several major parties are still scrambling to fill seats, negotiate alliances and decide which candidates have a realistic chance of entering parliament. The Likud primary is over, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu still has reserved slots he can use to add candidates. A new joint party led by former prime minister Naftali Bennett and opposition leader Yair Lapid has yet to settle its final order. Former military chief Gadi Eisenkot’s party, meanwhile, is polling strongly enough that it has more potentially winnable positions than candidates seeking them, while Avigdor Liberman’s Yisrael Beytenu faces the opposite challenge: fitting a large pool of recruits into a limited number of realistic slots. With negotiations continuing behind the scenes, here is where the major parties stand and what could still change before the deadline. Netanyahu is not finished Likud’s primary ended largely to Netanyahu’s satisfaction, producing a relatively loyal slate while elevating candidates viewed as unlikely to hurt the party in the general election campaign. Netanyahu backed the more statesmanlike wing of the party despite having demanded fierce loyalty from lawmakers during the outgoing Knesset. He has said he wants to strengthen both Likud’s ideological right and its economic credentials. As part of that effort, Netanyahu has already reserved a place on the slate for businessman Oren Dobronsky and is seeking additional candidates from academia, high-tech and artificial intelligence. This week, Netanyahu met Dr. Keren Asayag, an academic and breast cancer researcher, as part of an effort to add another woman after only three women secured places in Likud’s top 30 in the primary. Asayag has said she faced exclusion in academia because of her public support for Netanyahu and his government. Asayag expressed reluctance to enter politics, but Netanyahu sought to persuade her to join. Netanyahu has also announced that he will reserve a slot for Agriculture Minister Avi Dichter, a former head of the Shin Bet domestic security agency who failed to secure a sufficiently high position in the Likud primary. The prime minister is keeping other reserved positions available in case they are needed to facilitate a broader alliance on the right, either between far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich or between Likud and Smotrich. Those positions are in addition to two slots allocated to the New Hope faction under its merger agreement with Likud: one in the top five for Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar and another for Michel Buskila. Eisenkot has more seats to fill Eisenkot, a former IDF chief of staff, faces what amounts to a political luxury: His Yashar! party is polling at around 24 seats, putting it in contention to become the largest party in the Knesset or the second-largest behind Likud. If those polls hold, Eisenkot will need a deep slate combining newcomers with former lawmakers and Cabinet ministers. Among the prominent candidates are former Shin Bet chief Yoram Cohen, who is expected to take the No. 2 position, as well as Shaul Meridor, Matan Kahana, Orit Farkash-Hacohen, Labor Ministry Director-General Tair Ifergan and retired Maj. Gen. Kamil Abu Rukun. Former lawmakers Elazar Stern and Roy Folkman are among the latest additions. Eisenkot plans to unveil his slate close to the filing deadline and is expected to announce additional recruits in the coming days. A committee whose members have not been publicly identified is overseeing the process and will determine the final order. Bennett and Lapid face a crowded slate Bennett and Lapid’s joint party, Together, has announced a series of recruits, and Bennett has continued adding candidates even though the number of newcomers, combined with sitting Yesh Atid lawmakers, is considerably larger than the number of seats the party is currently projected to win. The upper tier of the slate is beginning to take shape. The two leaders have announced that lawmaker Meirav Cohen is their intended candidate for education minister, while particular attention is being given to two senior women in the party: Keren Turner, a former Finance Ministry director-general, and Liran Avisar, who helped establish Bennett’s political platform. Bennett has recruited 15 candidates of his own, including reservists’ representative Yonatan Shalev, northern Israel representative Nissan Zeevi and high-tech representative Matti Gil. Bennett and Lapid will have to decide which candidates receive realistic positions before the deadline. Like Netanyahu, Bennett has told candidates that if his bloc forms the next government, it would make extensive use of the so-called Norwegian Law, under which ministers can temporarily resign from the Knesset and allow the next candidates on their party slate to enter parliament. Liberman builds a broader Yisrael Beytenu Liberman’s Yisrael Beytenu has remained relatively stable in polls at around 10 seats. Although Liberman plans to retain sitting lawmakers on the next slate, he has recruited numerous candidates in recent weeks, with particular emphasis on figures from the more liberal wing of the religious Zionist community and active military reservists. Liberman has sought in recent months to present Yisrael Beytenu as the “Likud of old,” invoking a more traditional nationalist and secular version of the party. The slate will be determined by a selection committee headed by party co-founder Alex Dobronsky, whose son Oren has been given a reserved position on Likud’s slate. Liberman’s new recruits include lawmaker Dan Illouz, who left Likud, Lili Ben-Ami, retired Brig. Gen. Talia Sasson and former Beit She’an Mayor Rafi Ben-Shitrit. Democrats finalize their slate The Democrats have already selected their Knesset slate through digital primaries, which the party described as a major success. Party leader Yair Golan has expressed satisfaction with the result, which placed its three sitting lawmakers in the first three positions, followed by former Meretz lawmakers, leaders of Israel’s anti-government protest movement and representatives associated with families of hostages. Golan said he would not use either of the two reserved positions available to him, meaning he will not fulfill a previous promise to give hostage family activist Einav Zangauker a place on the slate. Smotrich fights to stay above the threshold Smotrich has completed the Religious Zionist Party’s candidate slate following an internal primary in which 170 members of the party’s central committee voted. The slate includes Settlement and National Missions Minister Orit Strock and lawmakers Simcha Rothman and Zvi Sukkot. Smotrich has also reserved a position for Tzvika Mor, the father of former hostage Eitan Mor. Smotrich is still considering how to present his campaign and slate, in part because of the emergence of Amcha Israel, a new party founded by Brig. Gen. (res.) Ofer Winter that is competing for support among religious Zionist voters. The Religious Zionist Party is currently polling around the electoral threshold, the minimum share of the national vote required to enter the 120-seat Knesset. Could Ben-Gvir recruit Hadar Muchtar? Ben-Gvir is expected to add more women to the existing Otzma Yehudit slate. Social Equality Minister May Golan, a close Ben-Gvir ally who worked closely with him during the outgoing parliamentary term, failed to secure a realistic position in the Likud primary but is now widely expected to find a place with Otzma Yehudit. Ben-Gvir is also considering other women, including Hadar Muchtar, a young political activist with a large social media following whom Netanyahu refused to allow to compete in the Likud primary. Ben-Gvir is weighing Muchtar’s candidacy as part of what he calls the “battle for the youth vote.” He is seeking to assemble 12 candidates capable of taking Knesset seats without relying on the Norwegian Law, though he has not yet recruited all of them. Gantz faces merger or possible withdrawal Blue and White leader Benny Gantz, another former military chief, faces perhaps the most consequential decision of any party leader: secure an alliance that gives his party a realistic chance of clearing the electoral threshold or consider withdrawing from the race rather than risk wasting opposition votes. Departures from his party have continued, leaving Gantz with only three sitting lawmakers: Michael Biton, Alon Schuster and Pnina Tamano-Shata. Gantz has spent weeks negotiating with former Fire and Rescue Commissioner Dedy Simhi, but an agreement does not appear imminent and the talks appear stalled. Simhi wants any alliance with Gantz to include additional political figures, with former justice minister Ayelet Shaked emerging as a prominent possibility. Shaked, however, is also reluctant to join without a clear and secure political path. One Blue and White lawmaker said Gantz would not risk wasting votes on a party that fails to enter parliament. “Benny Gantz has said it more than once — he will not burn votes if the party does not cross the electoral threshold,” the lawmaker said. Ra’am weighs a high-profile recruit The Islamist Ra’am party held its primaries over the weekend, selecting only the first five candidates on its slate. Mansour Abbas will remain party leader. The major unresolved question is whether former Yesh Atid lawmaker Yoav Segalovich will join the party. Segalovich is in advanced talks with Abbas and has already resigned from Yesh Atid and the Knesset against the backdrop of the negotiations. Abbas said after Ra’am’s party convention that he hoped Segalovich could be presented as a member of the slate within days. If the move is completed, Segalovich is expected to receive the No. 2 position immediately behind Abbas and could also become the party’s candidate for national security minister. The agreement has not been finalized, however, and reserved positions on the slate must still be approved through an internal party process. Hadash, Ta’al and Balad reunite Three predominantly Arab parties — Hadash, Ta’al and Balad — announced last week that they would run together. Hadash Chairman Yousef Jabareen will lead the joint slate, followed by Ta’al leader Ahmad Tibi at No. 2 and Balad leader Sami Abu Shehadeh at No. 3. Under the agreed formula, Hadash receives positions 1, 4, 6, 7 and 10 Balad gets 3, 5, 8 and 11 and Ta’al takes 2 and 9. Hadash representative Jafar Farah is expected at No. 4, followed by Balad’s Bakr Awawdeh at No. 5, Hadash lawmaker Ofer Cassif at No. 6, Hadash’s Youssef Atawneh at No. 7, Balad’s Maha Karkabi at No. 8 and Ta’al’s Osama Saadi at No. 9. Rotation agreements apply to some positions, meaning not all candidates between Nos. 4 and 11 have been finalized. Ra’am will not be part of the alliance. For now, no other major addition appears imminent, making the reunion of Hadash, Ta’al and Balad itself the central development after prolonged disputes over how to divide positions among the parties. Smaller parties battle the electoral threshold Zionist Home-Reservists: The party led by Yoaz Hendel and Chili Tropper is fighting to remain above the electoral threshold. The two have announced the addition of Shira Shapira and Elyasaf Peretz, though their positions have not been disclosed. They join several members of Hendel’s party, including reserve officers and soldiers. Tropper has not ruled out further alliances but has not indicated with whom. HaAchdut: Former Israeli ambassador to the United Nations Gilad Erdan’s party, part of what he calls a “third bloc,” has recruited former Likud lawmaker Yuli Edelstein, former Beit Shemesh mayor Dr. Aliza Bloch, Olympic medalist and judo coach Oren Smadga and Col. (res.) Hezi Nehama. The party is also struggling to clear the threshold and has not ruled out joining forces with others to increase its electoral strength. Amcha Israel: Winter, a newcomer to electoral politics, unveiled a slate Tuesday with 10 candidates in addition to himself, appearing to signal an intention to run independently rather than merge with another party. Winter placed Arab-Israeli advocacy activist Yoseph Haddad second on the slate, while journalist Netali Shem Tov is also among its senior candidates. Winter said his party would join only a right-wing government. Other candidates include Sigal Kraunik-Atia, attorney Eran Ben-Ari, Davidi Ben Zion, Eli Gino, Fleur Hassan-Nahoum, Ronen Bodenaro, Aviv Ezra and Lali Deri.