Posted on 12/27/2018 9:15:39 AM PST by Nextrush
A former Israeli armed forces chief who opinion polls show poses the toughest challenge to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's bid for re-election next year formally established a political party on Thursday. Details about Benny Gantz's Israel Resilience Party, leaked to local media after it was registered, give little indication of its ideological tilt. Along with preserving Israel as "a Jewish and democratic country", the party pledged unspecified changes to priorities in national security and the economy. Polling has predicted an easy win for Netanyahu in the April 9 election, with his rightist Likud party taking around 30 of parliament's 120 seats and on course to form a right-wing coalition government similar to the current cabinet. The surveys, published after Netanyahu announced on Monday an election some seven months before one was due by law, gave second place to a then-hypothetical Gantz party. The polls forecast it would take around 15 seats. Netanyahu is running for a fifth term under the shadow of three corruption investigations in which police have recommended his indictment. He had denied any wrongdoing.
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
Israel’s version of a split-the-conservative-vote candidate.
“Resilience for Hamas” party
Proportional representation means the total votes received by a conservative leaning side stays about the same regardless of the number of candidates from different parties.
Splintering is frequently done for personal ambition rather than for ideology. Usually just to get a better ministry.
Gantz’ party will take almost all its votes from the Leftist Zionist Union rather than from Netanyahu supporters.
I’m not really familiar with the Israeli system. Don’t “parties” have to have a minimum vote to have representation?
The threshold for a seat in the Knesset this round will be 3.25%.
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