Israel’s next political upheaval will come from the Right - opinion

Israel's right is trying to build unity by creating more parties, an approach the writer describes as political self-sabotage. Ofer Winter has People of Israel, Gilad Erdan and Yuli Edelstein have Unity, Yoaz Hendel and Chili Tropper have Zionist Home, and Sharren Haskel has Israel First.

The numbers keep shifting. A Walla poll conducted on September 1 and 2 placed Winter below the electoral threshold while a newly united list led by Bezalel Smotrich and Moshe Feiglin crossed it. A Channel 13 poll that same evening gave the Smotrich-Feiglin list six seats and Winter four.

The column argues that the precise poll result misses the larger problem. Competing political vehicles are drawing from the same pool of right-wing voters. Smotrich and Feiglin have signed a technical-bloc agreement, with Feiglin taking second place and room left for Winter to join. Winter has so far refused, reportedly rejecting five guaranteed Likud slots because he believes Israel needs leaders untainted by the failures of October 7.

The writer says the right already has a potentially powerful bench. Winter is associated with Yoseph Haddad and Fleur Hassan-Nahoum. Unity includes Erdan, Edelstein and Aliza Bloch. Zionist Home includes Hendel and Tropper, while Israel First includes Haskel and Jonathan Pollard. Together, the groups would bring ministers, a former Knesset speaker, diplomats, commanders and new political figures.

But ambition is blocking consolidation. Erdan has experience, Edelstein stature, Winter military credentials and Haskel ideological breadth and diplomatic experience. The column's central criticism is that each believes being qualified for first place makes a lower position unacceptable. It also points to continuing merger discussions between Benny Gantz and Erdan. Both parties remain below the threshold in the latest Walla poll, but Gantz opposes sitting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu while Unity has left that option open. A merger could solve an electoral problem while creating an identity problem.