But for Likud, under Netanyahu, this appears to be a meal that its members are prepared to consume out of political despair. In the past, the party and its leader defended LGBTQ rights. Its members of the Knesset also left the chamber when racist politicians from the extreme right took the floor.
No, it seems, more.
The potential party of the king-maker, Yamina, led by Naftali Bennet, is also on the right. But Bennet’s personal rivalry with Netanyahu and the ambition to take over the right, if Netanyahu is ever ousted, means that he, for the time being, is not joining a “pro-Bibi” electoral bloc yet.
With the Channel 13 survey predicting 11 seats, your party may raise Netanyahu’s alliance to 58. But for now, this is not something that Netanyahu’s Likud strategists can count on. Therefore, every right-wing vote counts. To ensure this, Netanyahu forged the creation of micro-blocks. Parties need to pass 3.5 percent of the vote limit to count. Small parties may struggle to do this. By joining them into groups that share a list of candidates with each other, and allied to their coalition slate, each vote is counted.
According to the Channel 13 survey, the religious Zionism party bloc, which includes Jewish power, is expected to obtain five seats. This would result in a chair in the Knesset for Itamar Ben-Gvir, a former devotee of the Kach movement in Israel, who was banned in 1994 as a terrorist organization.
At the time, he was one of the leaders of the Kach youth movement.
“The badge is a symbol and shows that, as we manage to obtain that symbol, we can reach Rabin,” he said.
Now, Noam has joined the group – a religious party whose main raison d’être seems to be homophobia.
Party leader Avi Maoz, who could also win a seat in the Knesset, according to Channel 13 and other polls, campaigned against same-sex adoption and IVF for same-sex couples.
“A country that forms a healthy family that includes a father, mother and strong children is normal. A country in which two fathers or two mothers are recognized as a family is not normal,” he added.
Israel’s left, desperate to build a coalition to overthrow Netanyahu, is also made up of many small parties.
Meretz, a dominant left-wing party that also hopes to attract votes from ethnic Arab Israelis, whose traditional parties tend to win 10 to 15 seats, is predictably outraged by the right’s last pact.
Nitzan Horowitz, leader of Meretz, told CNN: “This party is homophobic, it is racist, it defends Jewish supremacy, the deportation of Arabs, this is medieval politics.”
“I am very sorry that this is happening in my country. I think it is a pity that Prime Minister Netanyahu is in an alliance with this type of person. He is a neo-fascist. He does not belong here,” he said.
But within the Likud party, even among LGBTQ activists, there are misunderstandings.
Netanyahu has a long history of supporting LGBTQ rights.
“Loving someone should never mean a life of fear or terror. For a long time the LGBT community around the world has faced violence and intimidation … in Israel, the LGBT community marches with pride. My unwavering conviction is that all people are created equal … unfortunately, some elements of our society are not yet ready to accept the LGBT community. My solemn promise to you today is to continue to promote respect for all citizens of Israel, without exception, “he said in a broadcast of TV before the Jerusalem homosexual marches in pride in 2016, a year after a 16-year-old girl was stabbed and killed at the same event.
Eran Globus, an intern lawyer who used to preside over the Open House of Pride and Tolerance for minorities in Jerusalem, told CNN that he was disgusted by the latest political pact signed by the Israeli prime minister.
But when asked if it meant that the Likud party had lost its vote, he replied: “I think that, like many Israelis after three votes (in three general elections within a year), it is not clear until the minute you get there . “
Likud spokesman Eli Hazan summarized the calculation for Likud.
“I need to be prepared to win in any condition. I don’t like this party. We don’t share anything with them, except the desire to win the elections against the left wing.”