No Vote Sharing for Yisrael Beytenu

Yisrael Beytenu, whose intransigence is widely blamed for the ongoing electoral stalemate, now finds itself without a partner in the various vote-sharing arrangements being made among the parties ahead of the March 2 elections, according to The Jerusalem Post on Wednesday.

Blue and White signed a vote-sharing deal with Labor-Meretz-Gesher on Wednesday. Likud has signed with Yamina, and Shas is expected to have vote-sharing with United Torah Judaism. The deadline for filing with the Central Elections Committee is February 20.

Surplus-vote sharing agreements enable votes for a party to move to another if both have votes beyond the amount a seat is calculated to be worth. Calculations determine if there are enough extra votes between the two to give the party with more extra votes an additional seat.

The only other party without a vote-sharing agreement is the Joint Arab List. After years of attacking the JAL, it is doubtful that Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Liberman would consider signing with them.