The National Union party, headed by MK Ya’akov “Ketzaleh” Katz, signed on Monday night an agreement with Naftali Bennett, who is running for the position of leader of the Jewish Home party. Katz and Bennett agreed to form a joint list for the next Knesset.
The agreement states that if Bennett is elected as Jewish Home chairman, the two parties will form a broad joint national-religious list for the next election. The platform of the joint list will focus on education, Jewish identity, social welfare, settlement and the political struggle over the Land of Israel.
The order of the names on the joint list for the Knesset will be determined by both the National Union and the Jewish Home parties, states the agreement. It was also decided that a joint election headquarters would be set up and would work in “full and productive” cooperation between the parties for the success of the joint list.
The new joint party is expected to announce the details of the agreement to the Knesset Speaker in the coming days.
Officials told Arutz Sheva that the National Union party recently approached the two other contenders for the leadership of the Jewish Home, Rabbi Daniel Hershkowitz and Zevulun Orlev, but did not receive a clear reply from either of the two.
“Only Bennett rose to the challenge and realized the importance of unity,” the officials said. Arutz Sheva has also learned that the rabbi of the city of Tzfat, Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu, mediated between the parties.