As Religious Zionist Primaries Begin, Smotrich Negotiates With Secular MK Amichai Chikli

JERUSALEM (VINnews) — On Tuesday the Religious Zionist party will choose its candidates for the coming election. After Itamar Ben-Gvir broke off negotiations with the Religious Zionist party, leader Betzalel Smotrich seeks to give the party a more modern and less extreme religious appearance in order to attract voters from the former Yamina party. Since Smotrich cannot influence the primaries, which are open to all party members, he is now negotiating with former Yamina MK Amichai Chikli to cooperate with him in running for the Knesset.

Chikli, a secular right-wing Zionist, refused to join Bennett and Shaked’s coalition with the left wing and Ra’am parties, declaring that they had betrayed the trust of their voters. Chikli’s move nearly cost him his political career, as the Yamina party branded him a “separatist” MK and tried to prevent him from being a member of any party for future elections. Smotrich hopes that if he creates a “technical block” with Chikli, giving him a number of places in the first 10 seats, he will broaden the scope of his voters and dispel the perception that his party is solely a religious-Zionist niche.

Smotrich may face opposition from his own voters, since despite the positive attitude towards Chikli due to his refusal to join the Bennett government, the MK has said that he goes to Conservative prayer services and has expressed support for reform Jewry- views which are not consonant with religious Zionism. However a “technical block” is not a merger and does not require both parties to embrace the other’s ideology but merely a means of creating a larger entity which may enable Netanyahu to reach a majority and form a government.

Smotrich still hopes to unite with Ben-Gvir, who also has not closed the door to negotiations over a possible future merger. In the meantime both parties are involved in determining their Knesset lists before the 15th of September , the cutoff date for registering the parties for the coming election.