Ayelet Shaked has decided not to run in Israel’s upcoming election, turning down an offer from Benny Gantz to take the No. 2 position in his party and potentially setting her sights instead on a future political comeback through Likud.
According to a Channel 13 News report, Shaked is now expected to join Likud as a party member, a move that would allow her to begin accumulating the necessary seniority ahead of a possible future bid for a place on the party’s electoral slate.
Journalist Amit Segal addressed Shaked’s decision, saying that she “decided not to run in this election.” Regarding the possibility of another political partnership with Naftali Bennett, Segal added, “with Bennett, it is clear that it is over.”
Segal said Shaked had been skeptical from the outset about the prospects of what has been described as a “third bloc” in Israeli politics. He added that influential Likud mayors have been urging her for an extended period to formally join the party.
As an example, Segal pointed to Yehiel Zohar, whom he described as the “strongest in the party.” Zohar said this week that if Shaked were to compete in Likud, she could make it into the party’s top 10.
“My assessment is that she will join Likud, but time will tell,” Segal said.
Shaked’s decision came on the same day that another politician who previously ran with Bennett announced that he, too, would sit out the coming election. Former deputy minister Abir Kara said he would not be a candidate this time around.
Kara explained his decision in a lengthy post, arguing that Israel requires far more fundamental changes than he believes the current political options are offering.
“Israel needs far-reaching changes. Not Band-Aids, not cosmetic fixes, not hugs and certainly not makeup on reality and sweeping the problems under the rug,” Kara wrote.
“The society, the economy and the government in Israel need a total restart… I have not currently found a political framework with the necessary determination to truly change the course of the ship,” he wrote.
Kara added that incremental adjustments are insufficient for the challenges facing the country and said he sees the approaching election as offering largely the same political choices.
“Israel does not need another change of two percent here and three percent there. And these elections look like the same cards that are going to be shuffled in the same deck.”
{Matzav.com}
