Jewish Home Refuses Spot for Kahane Disciple on Electoral List

The Jewish Home party said on Thursday that it will agree to run again on a combined ticket with the far-right Otzma Yehudit only on condition that Baruch Marzel not be alloted a high place that would give him a realistic chance of entering the Knesset, Ynet reported.

Jewish Home leader Rabbi Rafi Peretz was said to have rejected Marzel’s candidacy because of his record as an activist in the banned extremist Kach party. Marzel has called for the expulsion of all “enemies” of the Jewish people, while allowing Arabs who pledge loyalty to remain in the country. Jewish Home fused with Otzma Yehudit in the April elections under heavy pressure from Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, who feared a dispersion of right-wing votes would jeopardize his prospects of forming a coalition, which it did.

Otzma Yehudit has threatened to run for the Knesset on an independent ticket in the upcoming elections if no agreement can be reached with the United Right, of which Jewish Home is currently a part.