Trying to reclaim her former glory among the far-right voting bloc, Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked, spoke of the circumstance that led to the establishment of the last government led by Naftali Bennett and apologized to her supporters for going along with it at an event that officially launched her new party's election campaign.
Amid the disintegration of the joint Arabic list, as some of the Arab parties are still licking their wounds and assessing the damage, The Likud party is not wasting a moment and is already targeting the Arab sector with an intensive campaign. At the center of the new campaign lies the promise of strong action against the violence and crime from which the Arab public suffers.
After the split of the various Arab parties that made up the former 'Joint List' during the submission of the party lists ahead of the election, the chairman of the Arabic party “Hadash-Ta'al”, Knesset Member (MK) Ayman Odeh, was interviewed on an Israeli radio station. During the interview, he mentioned the possibility of supporting Lapid or Gantz’s potential coalition.
"There is no doubt that we don't want to see Ben Gvir and Smotrich in power, but that doesn't mean we will recommend Lapid or Gantz," Odeh said. "It is enough that we increase the percentage of votes among the Arab citizens of Israel, and then neither Ben Gvir, nor Smotrich, nor others will be in power. As for Lapid and Gantz, it is a completely different story, with their current attitude - they will not receive a presidential recommendation to form a coalition," but he did not say he was opposed to it, and many speculate he is simply holding out for the best deal before committing.
Prime Minister Yair Lapid responded to the uproar at the Russian Yesh Atid website, which stated that the Likud had become a "sectional party of Sephardim" (referring to Jews of Sephardic descent).
After attacks from the Likud, which accused Yesh Atid in a clip of racism and incitement, Lapid said that "there are many more Sephardim at the top of Yesh Atid than in Likud", and emphasized that he ordered all the material in Russian to be taken down from the networks "and fire the person who wrote it immediately".
In an act of desperation that many say will only harm the country overall, Benjamin Netanyahu pledged to "equalize the budget of educational institutions that do not study modern subjects to those that do". This announcement was meant to pander to the Ultra-Orthodox who are seemingly courting multiple leaders to back. It comes as there is a big push to bring secular studies into Ultra-Orthodox yeshivas, and help prepare the Haredi community to join the broader community. Questions remain in Netanyahu's grand proposal, such as whether Israel’s Supreme Court will allow such an act.