New Right (Israel)

The New Right (Hebrew: הימין החדש‎, HaYamin HeHadash), legally known as Tzion LeShevah (Hebrew: ציון לשבח‎), is a right-wing political party in Israel, established in December 2018 by justice minister Ayelet Shaked and education minister Naftali Bennett. The New Right aims to be a right-wing party open to both religious and secular people. The party won three seats in the subsequent election of September 2019,[10] and retained these in the March 2020 election.

The New Right

הימין החדש‎
LeaderNaftali Bennett[1]
Founded29 December 2018
Split fromThe Jewish Home
IdeologyZionism[2][3]
National conservatism[4][5][6]
Economic liberalism[2][4]
Judicial restraint[7]
Factions:
Religious Zionism[8]
Secularism[2]
Political positionRight-wing[8]
National affiliationYamina[9] (2019;[10] 2020-present)[11][12]
SloganRight Wing. Responsibly.
Knesset
3 / 120
Election symbol
נ‎
Website
newyamin.org

History

The party was formed in December 2018, when Naftali Bennett, Ayelet Shaked, and Shuli Mualem left the Jewish Home,[8][13] using the registration of the unused Tzalash party. The party's legal name remains Tzalash, though it was restyled as an abbreviation for Tzion LeShevah (an IDF citation), rather than the previous Tziyonut Liberaliyut Shivyon (Zionism, Liberalism, Equality) of the original Tzalash.[14]

Among the reasons given for the split was the purely religious nature of the Jewish Home.[15][16]

It was announced on 2 January 2019 that Caroline Glick, a columnist at The Jerusalem Post, had joined the party.[17] Deaf rights activist Shirley Pinto joined the party on 8 January 2019;[18] Shaked stated that Pinto would be an "effective advocate for the rights of people with disabilities".[19]

In the September 2019 election, it joined the Yamina alliance, alongside the Jewish Home and Tkuma.[9][20] The alliance officially split into two factions (the New Right, and the Jewish Home/Tkuma) on 10 October.[10] The New Right also unsuccessfully attempted to negotiate an alliance with Zehut.[21]

On 8 November 2019, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that the New Right would be merging with his ruling Likud party,[22] though Shaked rebutted the idea the next day.[23]

Prior to the 2020 Israeli legislative election, the New Right entered talks with the New Liberal Party for an electoral alliance.[24] Bennett subsequently approached Zehut leader Moshe Feiglin for an alliance, though Feiglin declined the offer.[25]

On 14 January 2020, the New Right announced it had formed an electoral alliance with Tkuma.[26] The party reformed the Yamina alliance on 15 January, with The Jewish Home and Tkuma again joining.[12] Bennett rejected the prospect of expanding the alliance to include Otzma Yehudit, despite pressure from Netanyahu.[27] On 22 April 2020, it was reported that Bennett was now "considering all options" for Yamina's political future, including departing from Netanyahu's government, which had just agreed to form a joint government with leader of the opposition Blue and White party Benny Gantz, and joining the opposition. Bennett was said to be unhappy with the new coalition government's decision to hold back on the issue of judicial reform.[28] On 14 May 2020, The Jewish Home's only Knesset member Rafi Peretz ended his status as a member of Yamina, and agreed to join Netanyahu's new government as well.[29][30] On 15 May, the New Right, along with Tkuma, split with Netanyahu and made the Yamina alliance a member of the opposition. On 17 May 2020, Bennett met with Gantz, who also succeeded him as Defence Minister, and declared that both Yamina parties were now "head held high" members of the opposition.[31]

Platform

The New Right platform, as detailed by its website, is:[2]

Ayelet Shaked said the party would work to arrange religious and secular relations on the basis of mutual understanding and an updated version of the Gavison-Medan Covenant.[32]

Leaders
Leader Took office Left office
Naftali Bennett 2018 Incumbent[1]

Knesset members
Year Members Total
2018 Naftali Bennett, Ayelet Shaked, Shuli Mualem 3
2019–2020 Naftali Bennett, Ayelet Shaked, Matan Kahana 3
2020– Naftali Bennett, Ayelet Shaked, Matan Kahana 3

Knesset election results
Election Leader Votes % Seats +/– Status
April 2019 Naftali Bennett 138,598 3.22%
0 / 120
 3 Extraparliamentary
September 2019 Naftali Bennett As part of Yamina
3 / 120
 3 Snap election
2020 Naftali Bennett As part of Yamina
3 / 120
 0 Opposition

References
  1. Nati Yefet (11 September 2019). "Naftali Bennett, not Ayelet Shaked, is chairman of New Right, party bylaws show". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 11 September 2019.
  2. "אודות המפלגה". newyamin (in Hebrew). Archived from the original on 27 March 2019. Retrieved 25 February 2019.
  3. "Israel Votes 2019 | HaYamin HeChadash - The New Right". Archived from the original on 27 March 2019. Retrieved 26 March 2019.
  4. "Israeli ministers announce new right-wing party ahead of snap election". I24 News. 29 December 2018.
  5. "Right-Wing Israeli Political 'Fascism' Perfume Ad Leaves People Scratching Their Heads". The Forward. 19 March 2019.
  6. "Israeli Justice Minister Releases Mock Perfume Ad Trolling The Left". Daily Wire. 19 March 2019.
  7. "The New Right". idi.
  8. "Bennett, Shaked quit Jewish Home, announce formation of 'The New Right'". The Times of Israel. 29 December 2018. Retrieved 15 February 2019.
  9. Staff writer (12 August 2019). "United Right to run under name 'Yamina'". Arutz Sheva.
  10. Raoul Wootliff (10 October 2019). "Yamina party officially splits into New Right, Jewish Home-National Union". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 21 November 2019.
  11. Staff writer (29 July 2019). "New Right, United Right reach final agreement on joint run". Israel National News. Retrieved 29 July 2019.
  12. Staff writer (15 January 2020). "Bennett, Peretz, Smotrich agree to joint run without Ben Gvir". Arutz Sheva. Retrieved 15 January 2020.
  13. Chaim Levenson; Yotam Berger (29 December 2018). "Political Drama: Senior Israeli Ministers Launch New Right-wing Party". Haaretz. Retrieved 29 December 2018.
  14. Harkov, Lahav. "Report: Bennett and Shaked's new party to be called 'Tzalash'". The Jerusalem Post.
  15. Yvette J. Deane; Lahav Harkov; Gil Hoffman (29 December 2018). "'HaYamin HeHadash' (New Right)- Bennett, Shaked announce political party". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 29 December 2018.
  16. הפלטפורמה: מפלגתו של פריצקי Israel National News, 30 December 2018
  17. "Caroline Glick joins New Right party of Shaked, Bennett". World Israel News. 2 January 2019. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
  18. Raoul Wootliff (8 January 2019). "New Right announces deaf rights activist as first-ever deaf Knesset candidate". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 8 January 2019.
  19. "First-ever deaf candidate for Knesset joins New Right". The Jerusalem Post. 8 January 2019. Retrieved 10 January 2019.
  20. Jeremy Sharon. "Right-wing parties form alliance to be led by Shaked". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 30 July 2019.
  21. Dror Halavy (10 July 2019). "Report: Feiglin, Bennett Merger Closer Than Ever". Hamodia. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
  22. "Netanyahu's Likud Announces Merger With Hayamin Hehadash; PM Expected to Tap Bennett as Defense Minister". Haaretz. 8 November 2019.
  23. Staff writer (9 November 2019). "Shaked: No merger between Likud & New Right". Arutz Sheva.
  24. Staff writer (1 January 2020). "Bennett eyes alliance with former Zehut activists". Arutz Sheva. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
  25. Staff writer (14 January 2020). "Moshe Feiglin's Zehut party won't run with Bennett and Smotrich's joint list". Arutz Sheva. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
  26. Alexander Fulbright; Jacob Magid (14 January 2020). "New Right, National Union agree on joint run, call for Jewish Home to join them". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
  27. Yisrael Price (15 January 2020). "Bennett Gives Final No to Otzma Yehudit". Hamodia. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
  28. Wootliff, Raoul (22 April 2020). "Netanyahu speaks with Bennett as Yamina considers joining unity government". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
  29. Ido Ben Porat (15 May 2020). "Rabbi Rafi Peretz signs coalition agreement with the Likud". Arutz Sheva.
  30. "Minister Rafi Peretz Leaves Yamina to Join New Government". Hamodia. 14 May 2020.
  31. https://www.timesofisrael.com/yamina-chair-says-party-heading-to-opposition-with-head-held-high/
  32. "Through secular-religious dialogue, all problems can be solved". Israel National News. 3 February 2019. Retrieved 29 July 2019.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.