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Early elections for the twentieth Israeli Knesset are being held on 17 March 2015.
Disagreements within the governing coalition, particularly over the budget and a "Jewish state" proposal, led to the dissolution of the government in December 2014. The Labor Party and Hatnuah formed a coalition, called Zionist Union, with the hope of defeating the Likud party, which led the previous governing coalition along with Yisrael Beiteinu, Yesh Atid, The Jewish Home, and Hatnuah.
During late November and early December 2014, there were serious disagreements between parties in the governing coalition, particularly over the budget and a "Jewish state" proposal.[1][2] On 2 December Likud announced it would support a dissolution bill, with a vote scheduled for 8 December. Hours later, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fired Tzipi Livni and Yair Lapid from their cabinet portfolios.[3] In the first reading of the dissolution bill on 3 December, it was approved by a vote of 84–0, with one abstention.[4] The second and third readings were held on 8 December, with the third reading passing with a vote of 93–0.[5]
During the meeting held with Speaker Yuli-Yoel Edelstein on setting the date of the election, Likud and the Jewish Home favoured 10 March, the Labor Party requested 17 March, Shas and United Torah Judaism preferred 24 March, whilst the Arab parties requested that the elections be delayed until May.[6] The date was ultimately set for 17 March.[5]
The 120 seats in the Knesset are elected by proportional representation in a single nationwide constituency. The electoral threshold for the 2013 elections was 2%, but on 11 March 2014 the Knesset voted to raise the threshold to 3.25%. The change may exclude many of the smaller parties, and could result in some mergers. The vote was boycotted by the opposition.[9] In almost all cases, this is equivalent to a minimum party size of four seats, but on rare occasions a party can end up with three.[10]
Continuing their longstanding alliance, Degel HaTorah and Agudat Israel will run on a joint electoral list named United Torah Judaism.[11]
In December 2014, the Labor Party and Hatnuah agreed to form a joint electoral list named Zionist Union.[12]
The new Yachad party and Otzma Yehudit agreed on a joint electoral list.[13]
Following the raising of the electoral threshold, Balad, Hadash, the southern branch of the Islamic Movement, Ta'al and the United Arab List agreed in January 2015 to form a joint electoral list named Joint List.[14]
Two parties can make an agreement so that they are considered to be running on a joint list when leftover seats are distributed. The Bader–Ofer method favors larger lists, meaning that a joint list is more likely to receive leftover seats than each list would individually. If such a joint list does receive a leftover seat, the Bader–Ofer method is applied a second time to determine which of the parties that make up the joint list will receive it.[15] The following agreements were signed by parties prior to the election:
| Likud leadership election | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Netanyahu | Danon | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 75% | 19% | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The Likud list[18] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Prime Minister Netanyahu called a primary for 25 December 2014, however, it was postponed until 6 January. After the election was called, the prime minister demanded a vote of the central committee to move it back up to 31 December. This was passed in a mini-referendum.[12] The candidates were Netanyahu[19] and former deputy Defense Minister Danny Danon.[20] Likud's internal court changed the date to 6 January 2015 after finding that the vote lacked a two-thirds majority.[21] A panel of Likud judges accepted Netanyahu's appeal and allowed the vote to occur on 31 December 2014.[22]
The controversy over the timing of the primaries led to an internal investigation resulting in a report by party comptroller Shay Galilee that claimed Netanyahu had misused party employees. Galilee subsequently invited Netanyahu to a pre-disqualification hearing, which resulted in Netanyahu being prevented from running in the primaries. The prime minister immediately appealed to the Likud internal court.[23] Menachem Ne’eman, the chairman of the Likud election committee, has claimed that Galilee acted outside his authority and that his decision is invalid. Netanyahu's attorney and his primary campaign have contested the disqualification.[24] Netanyahu was allowed to run.[25]
The primary results were widely seen as a victory for Netanyahu and the more moderate faction within Likud, as opposed to the far-right fringe.[26] Moshe Feiglin, who for a long time led his own far-rightist faction within Likud and once challenged Netanyahu for the chairmanship, suffered a major defeat in the primary, failing to win a realistic spot on the ticket. In response, he left Likud and announced plans to form a new party.[26][27] Feiglin said his new party, which may be called the Jewish State Party, will not run in the 2015 election but will run in the next election after that.[28]
The major foreign policy focus of Benjamin Netanyahu during this campaign has been to "prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear capability, by turning world opinion in favor of maintaining and expanding economic and diplomatic sanctions against Tehran".[29] Netanyahu reiterated his positions on Iran to a joint session of the United States Congress. In the Middle East peace process, "Netanyahu has spoken out against further withdrawals from land, further releases of terrorists from prisons or dividing Jerusalem in any way".[29] Additionally, Netanyahu and other Likud members suggested that positions that he had made in his famous Bar Ilan speech were now null and void.[30] He reiterated this position on the last day of the campaign, telling Makor Rishon that "If I'm elected, there will be no Palestinian State".[31]
Domestically, Likud "calls for a "free market economy with social sensitivity", suggesting that in order "to remain competitive in a global market, there is a need for budgetary discipline, lowering taxes, an effectively managed stock market and growth of the private sector".[29] The party has also pledged to "implement State Comptroller Joseph Shapira's recommendations for ending the housing crisis and improve benefits for the self-employed".[29]
| The Labor leadership election | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Herzog | Yachimovich | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 58.5% | 41.5% | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The Zionist Union list[32][33][34] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Labor Party and Hatnuah agreed on 10 December 2014 to form a joint ticket.[12] Hatnuah head Tzipi Livni has said that other parties will also be part of the alliance.[35] Herzog and Livni initially said that if they won enough votes to form the next government, they would take turns in the role of prime minister, with Herzog serving for the first two years and Livni for the second two, in a compromise known as rotation,[36] though Livni announced on 16 March 2015 that only Herzog would serve as prime minister.[37] Labor held its primaries on 13 January 2015.[38]
Aluf (Major General, res.) Amos Yadlin is the party's candidate for Ministry of Defence, though he is not running in the election itself.[39]
The alliance was expanded further when Livni selected Yael Cohen Paran, a co-chair of the Green Movement, Major General (res.) Eyal Ben-Reuven, and Yoel Hasson for Hatnuah's reserved slots on the Zionist Union list.[40][41]
The slate was endorsed by former prime minister Ehud Barak,[42] former prime minister and president Shimon Peres,[43] former Shin Bet chief Yuval Diskin,[44] former Mossad chief Meir Dagan,[45] head of Israel's wealthiest family Stef Wertheimer,[46] columnist Ari Shavit,[47][48] and the daily Haaretz.[49]
Maintaining its position firmly within the Israeli peace camp, the party pledged to "reignite a process with our Palestinian neighbors based on a regional platform, and foster our unique and special relationship with Washington" but did not specify in greater detail the concessions that would be made by a Zionist Union government other than saying that the Jordan Valley must be Israel's eastern security border.[29] The party also pledged "to rescue Israel from its international isolation [by] restor[ing] relations with the US and Europe, and unit[ing] the world in its war against terrorism and aggression".[29]
Much of the party's policy has been focused on economic issues facing Israelis, due in large part to members of the 2011 Israeli social justice protests currently on the party's slate of candidates. The party has pledged "support for 300,000 available apartments, released to the market at the rate of 50,000–60,000 per year, and subsidizing land value in housing while providing an opportunity for partial ownership through rent payments.[29] The party also plans to "lower the costs of healthcare, education and basic goods for every family in Israel, allocating NIS 2 billion to create a basic aid package for senior citizens in need and launch a national savings program for children".[29]
| The Jewish Home leadership election | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bennett | Or | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 90% | 10% | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The Jewish Home list[50] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Jewish Home held its primary elections on 14 January 2015.[51] It has agreed to a vote-sharing agreement with Likud.[5] Tkuma has candidates on the same list as the Jewish Home for the election. It held its primaries on 11 January 2015. Its Knesset members will be placed on the 2nd, 8th, 13th and 17th slots in the joint list.[52][53]
Rabbi Shimon Or competed against incumbent party leader Naftali Bennett in the 14 January leadership elections.[54]
Minister Uri Orbach was placed 6th in the list, but he died on 16 February 2015.[55]
The Jewish Home is "the only incumbent party in Israel that opposes any type of Palestinian state west of the Jordan River", as well as a one-state solution, which it sees as "infeasible and dangerous".[29] The party instead supports annexing Area C and giving Area A and B self-governing autonomy.
The party's economic platform is "committed to increasing competition, breaking up monopolies and cutting taxes to the middle class whenever possible, because the party believes the government must encourage new ventures by maintaining a business-friendly climate through favorable economic policies and cutting red tape".[29] The party also supports doubling the incentive package given to small businesses, allowing them to borrow up to 85 percent of set-up costs.[29]
| The Yesh Atid list[56] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Hailed as the kingmakers in the 2013 elections, Yesh Atid and its leader Yair Lapid have seen their popularity cut in half since joining the government. Elected on a "promise to lower the cost of living and improve the middle class's quality of life, Lapid implemented a string of unpopular austerity measures after being appointed finance minister that, he said, were necessary to counter a government deficit that ran into the tens of billions of shekels".[57] Such actions led to Lapid being named the "most disappointing politician of 2013" and giving him the lowest approval ratings of cabinet ministers.[58][59]
Following the election call, several sitting Yesh Atid MKs announced their intention not to run in the upcoming elections, including Rina Frenkel, Adi Koll, and Shimon Solomon.[60] However, the party gained a member from another party, as HatnuahMKElazar Stern joined Yesh Atid following party leader Tzipi Livni's merger with Labor.
Yesh Atid's platform on the Middle East peace is firmly in the middle. The party "maintains that Israel was founded as the nation-state of the Jewish people and must remain a state with a Jewish majority, with defensible borders".[29] The party suggested that a multilateral approach involving Israel neighbors would allow for Israel's long-term security as well as a Palestinian state.
On the subject of Iran, the party says Israel cannot allow Iran to become a nuclear threshold state and must do everything to prevent that scenario, in conjunction with the international community if possible and unilaterally if necessary.
Party leader Yair Lapid served as finance minister in Netanyahu's government, and as mentioned above, takes both the support and the blame for the government's fiscal policies. Had the government not fallen, Lapid's 2015 budget "would have increased investment in social services by more than NIS 10 billion without incurring any increase in taxes".[29] The party "believes in a fair economic policy that directs budgetary investments to the middle class and the weakest in society, closing social gaps while strengthening the market and encouraging growth".[29] The party calls for more spending on health, education and welfare, as well as encouraging growth and investment in industry by assisting small and medium businesses and promoting innovation in the market, fighting the black market and striving to put public funds back in the hands of the public.[29]
| The Yisrael Beiteinu list[61] | |
Yisrael Beiteinu, who ran in the 2013 elections on a joint party list with Likud, split from the party in July 2014, with analysts suggesting that it was due to policy disagreements between Prime Minister Netanyahu and Yisrael Beitenu leader Avigdor Lieberman, specifically regarding the 2014 kidnapping and murder of Israeli teenagers and the ensuing conflict in Gaza.[62] The party's poll numbers stayed relatively steady after the split from Likud, but began to slide in early 2015.
Party leader Avigdor Liberman has publicized his own plan for peace with the Palestinians. The Lieberman Plan is controversial due to its plan for massive population exchanges between Jews and Arabs.
On economic issues, the party pledged a 90% mortgage for the purchase of a first apartment for couples in which both partners work, and served in the army or did national service.[29] Additionally, they suggest that the state should provide after-school activities until 5 p.m. for children aged from six months to six years.[29]
The Kulanu party was established in November 2014 by former Likud MK Moshe Kahlon following months of speculation.[65][66]
Kahlon was able to attract some high-profile candidates for the Kulanu party list, including former Israeli Ambassador to the United States Michael Oren and Deputy Mayor of Jerusalem Rachel Azaria. However, one of these candidates, former Reshet Aleph director and IBA presenter Tsega Melaku was barred from running in the elections, due to the fact that she did not wait the requisite 100 days between quitting her public sector job and running in a general election.[67]
Kahlon is known for his support for egalitarian economics and for issues affecting the middle class, although he also maintains a strong working-class appeal. As communications minister, he earned popularity by taking on Israel's wireless cartel and forcing them to lower mobile phone prices by introducing new competitors.[68] His platform aims to break up business monopolies[69] and lower the high cost of living.[70] Traditionally known for a hard line on security matters, Kahlon has in more recent times suggested support for territorial compromise for a two-state solution.[68] He has said he is "a product of the Likud" but that his "worldview is center, slightly leaning to the right".[71] Within the Likud, he was known to be socially liberal.[68] Ari Shavit wrote in January 2015 that Kulanu had the potential to be the true successor to the national liberalismofZe'ev Jabotinsky and Menachem Begin.[72] It is not clear with which political bloc his party is naturally allied.[73] Kahlon considers himself a longstanding member of both Israel's "national camp" and its "social camp." While campaigning in 2015, he would not say whether the party would endorse Benjamin NetanyahuorIsaac Herzog for prime minister, although Galant, placed second on the party's list, suggested it would prefer Herzog.[74][75]
| The Joint List[76] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Following the raising of the electoral threshold, Balad, Hadash, the southern branch of the Islamic Movement, Ta'al and the United Arab List agreed on 22 January 2015 to run on the same list in the election,[14] the first time the major Arab parties had all run on a single list.[78] One poll suggested that the formation of alliance, later named the Joint List, could increase turnout amongst Arab voters to 56%, 10% higher than in the 2013 elections.[78] However, the more hardline northern branch of the Islamic Movement opted to boycott the elections, alongside the Abnaa el-Balad (Sons of the Village) movement.[79]
Despite the official positions of anti-Zionism of some of the List's parties, the party's platform on the Middle East peace process tries to stake a moderate position. The Joint List's policy on the peace process "calls for a just peace based on UN resolutions, ending the occupation of all land Israel captured in 1967, dismantling all settlements and the security barrier, releasing all "political prisoners" and forming a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital".[29] Additionally, the party "calls for a just solution to the Palestinian refugee problem, which guarantees a right of return and self-rule for Israeli-Arab citizens on educational, cultural and religious issues".[29] On other foreign policy matters, the party "supports a nuclear-free Israel and Middle East".[29]
Due to the fact that the party is primarily concerned with the interests of Israeli Arabs, the party "calls for full equality in state budgeting for Jewish and Arab municipalities and institutions, as well as affirmative action to help the poor – who are disproportionately Arab".[29] Additionally, the party wants to raise the minimum wage to 60% of the average salary.[29]
| The United Torah Judaism list[80] | |
United Torah Judaism, or Yehadut HaTorah, is an alliance between:
As a party that caters to Israel's large haredi and hasidic community, the party's platform reflects this. On foreign policy, "the party’s guiding principle is that the Land of Israel was given to the Jewish people by God, and belongs to them forever".[29] When faced with practical questions on the conflict, leading rabbis will also consider pikuach nefesh, the Jewish legalistic principle of saving life taking priority over all else.[29] At heart, the party is "committed to true peace in the Middle East and putting an end to the bloodshed".[29]
The party "demands a solution to the haredi housing shortage and will work to change housing policies to enable young couples to comfortably purchase or rent a suitable home".[29] Additionally, the party "insists that state land be allocated free of charge to those eligible for state housing, and will work to construct a program to populate these units with homeless from the ultra-Orthodox community".[29] On other social issues, the party also wishes to educate Israelis in Jewish values regarding economic stability and managing family economics. The party's economic policy advocates a focus on the private sector and decreasing government involvement in the economy.
| The Shas list[64] | |
One of the fiercest rivalries in this campaign has been competition among several different parties for the votes of Sephardic Haredi Jews. Historically, Shas, a Sephardic Haredi party founded by Sephardic Chief Rabbi Ovadia Yosef has been the key party among Haredi Sephardic and Mizrahi populations. In 1999, Shas leader Aryeh Deri was convicted of taking $155,000 in bribes while serving as Interior Minister and given a three-year jail sentence in 2000, he was replaced by Eli Yishai.[81][82] Yishai led the party for over ten years after Deri's imprisonment, leading the party through Knesset elections until 2013. Deri was released from prison for good behavior in 2002, and remained a popular figure within his constituency.
Between 2011 and 2014, several events occurred that created rifts in the party. In 2011, after years out of the political spotlight, Deri announced an interest in returning to politics. After Aryeh Deri announced his return to politics, and following a series of highly publicised events that led to an increase in the tensions between the Haredi public and the non-Haredi public, Shas's popularity began to falter according to most polls. As a result, Shas chairman Eli Yishai requested that Aryeh Deri join the party instead of establishing an independent party.[83] Shas spiritual leader Ovadia Yosef offered Aryeh Deri the 3rd position on the party list, but Deri rejected it at first and was believed to want to lead the party, start his own party (which according to polls might win as many as 7 seats), or not participate in the election at all.[84] On 16 October a compromise was reached: Shas would not a have a formal chairman, but would instead be jointly lead by Deri, Yishai and Housing and Construction Minister Ariel Atias.[85] In May 2013, some months after internal rift following Deri's political comeback, Yishai was ousted and Deri was once again renamed as the leader of the Shas party.[86] Ovadia Yosef, the Sephardi sage and Shas spiritual leader said regarding his decision to oust Yishai "It was a deposit that he held, and now he can redeem it." Yosef also said he had told Deri at the time of his imprisonment that the position of party leader would be returned to him.[87] 2013 also marked the death of Ovadia Yosef, the party's spiritual leader.
In 2014, Yishai created a new party, called Yachad. On 28 December 2014, a recording was released of Rabbi Yosef condemning Deri and supporting Yishai in 2008, years before Deri's return to politics.[88] In response to these recordings, Deri tendered his resignation to the party leadership, which they rejected.[89]
There were also protests and threats to boycott the election from Haredi women, upset with the fact that the Haredi parties do not allow women on the ballot. Women who protested this policy were threatened with repercussions by male Haredi activists.[90]
At the end of the campaign, Yishai sent an open letter to Deri, "calling for peace and unity between the two parties for Election Day and in the coming Knesset in order to defeat "evil decrees" against the Torah and against the working class".[91] "Deri dismissed Yishai’s missive as hypocritical and said that he had pleaded for cooperation from Yishai before he quit Shas, but to no avail".[91]
The party's platform on the peace process is simple. Aryeh Deri has suggested that "there is currently no negotiating partner on the Palestinian side, so the basis of the next government should be socioeconomic".[29] On that subject, Shas' economic plan calls for an increase in the minimum wage to NIS 30 an hour, lowering the value-added tax on basic household items and requiring 7.5% of every building plan to be devoted to public housing. Shas insist that their housing plan create Mixed-income housing rather than segregating rich and poor neighborhoods.[29]
| The Yachad - Otzma joint list[13] | |
Former Shas MK Eli Yishai unveiled Yachad on 15 December 2014.[93]
The Otzma LeYisrael party, which failed to cross the electoral threshold in the 2013 elections, was rebranded as the Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Strength) party. The leaders of the party announced that they would consider running with breakaway groups from Shas and Jewish Home, but not with Jewish Home itself, because they view Naftali Bennett as insufficiently right-wing.[94]
The two parties came to an agreement on a joint electoral list.[13]
Party chairman Eli Yishai told Jeremy Sharon of the Jerusalem Post that he is against giving away any territory from the Land of Israel, and would not agree to any future settlement freeze.[29]
The party's economic policy would focus primarily on bridging the gap between rich and poor. Due to Yishai's support within the Haredi community, the party opposes economic sanctions against haredi draft-dodgers.
| The Meretz list[95] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Meretz held its primaries on 19 January 2015 at a meeting of its 1,000-member central committee in the Tel Aviv Fairgrounds. Leader Zahava Gal-On was re-elected as head of the party, whilst MK Nitzan Horowitz chose not to stand.[95]
Meretz remains the most vocal party within the Israeli peace camp. Leader Zehava Gal-On said that any solution must be based on two states for two peoples, with a border based on pre-1967 lines with agreed-upon land swaps, and include an end to the conflict through a regional solution hinged on the Arab Peace Plan.[29] The party sees UN recognition of a Palestinian state as a pathway toward negotiations, and calls for the following immediate steps to be taken: Stopping settlement construction, paying Israeli residents of the West Bank to leave willingly and removing the naval blockade on the Gaza Strip in a gradual and coordinated way.[29]
Meretz is also one of the more left-wing parties in terms of economic policy. The party seeks to create a welfare state with broad-reaching social services that are effectively regulated and monitored.[29] It calls for more support for workers and organized labor rather than the rich, equalizing society through tax reform and reducing spending in areas such as settlements and the security budget
The Ale Yarok (Green Leaf) party, which supports legalizing marijuana, said that anyone who donated to them would receive marijuana if and when the plant was legalized in Israel. As a result, the party raised over NIS 100,000 as of January 13. Green Leaf has never won parliamentary seats before; however, there are enough cannabis smokers in Israel that if even a quarter of them vote for Ale Yarok, the party will have a good chance of winning seats.[96]
In January, a political party led by Haredi women declared its intention to run in the upcoming elections, a first in the Israeli political system.[97] The party, which is called U'Bizchutan ("And By Their [female] Merit"), includes Ruth Korian and Noah Erez on its list.[98] Party leader Ruth Korian asked for protection from the government after she said her 10-year-old daughter was pulled out of class and questioned about party activities.[99]
The "We Are All Friends Na Nach" party, representing Breslover Hasidim, is also running. Because the name of the party in Hebrew is "Kulanu Haverim Na Nach", they objected to the use of the first word by Moshe Kahlon's Kulanu party. Ultimately, however, both parties were allowed to use the name.[99]
The Greens party renamed itself this election as the "Greens Don't Give A Fuck" party.[100]
Other parties running again after failing to cross the threshold in the previous election are the Pirate Party, Or, HaTikva LeShinui ("The Hope for Change"), and the Finance Party headed by the Goldstein brothers.[99][100][101]
Other parties running for the first time in this election are Democratura, Manhigut Hevratit ("Social Leadership") headed by former Moreshet Avot head Ilan Meshicha, Nivheret Ha'Am HaZmanit ("The Temporary National Team") headed by former Brit Olam founder Ofer Lifschitz, Schirut BeKavod ("Making a Living With Honor"), and Perach ("Flower").[101]
After polls showed that Kadima would be unable to win any seats in 2015 if it competed on its own, there were reports that the Zionist Union was considering adding it to its ticket by reserving the 11th spot for Kadima leader Shaul Mofaz.[102] However, Mofaz rejected these rumors, stating he had no intention of joining the alliance,[103] and announced that he was retiring from politics in January 2015. He was replaced as party leader by Akram Hasson, the first time a Druze Israeli had led a Jewish party.[104] His leadership of the party was short-lived, however, as Hasson shortly quit the party to join the Kulanu list,[105] receiving the 12th slot. Without either of its current MKs, Kadima is not running in this election at all.[101]
Former United Arab List MK Taleb a-Sanaa founded a party called “The Arab List" after not receiving a slot on the Arab parties' Joint List.[100] The party, which submitted a list to the Central Elections Committee and is listed as participating on the Knesset website,[101] decided to drop out of the elections only one week before the polls.[106]
The『Protecting Our Children – Stop Feeding Them Porn』party, which ran unsuccessfully in the 2013 election, ran again in this election as well. Though it submitted a list to the Central Elections Committee,[101] the party decided to drop out of the elections and throw its support behind The Jewish Home when it determined based on polls that it would receive less than 30,000 votes.[107]
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