Party Leader: Binyamin Netanyahu

Party leader: Binyamin Netanyahu

Founded: 1973

Number of seats in the Knesset: 30

Likud is the largest party in the Israeli parliament currently and is led by the Prime Minister of Israel, Binyamin (or Bibi) Netanyahu. The party won a surprising landslide victory in the recent 2015 election, and currently lead the coalition government. The party is often described as being on the centre-right of Israeli politics.

Priorities

Palestinian relations: Officially, Likud has supported a 2-state solution, with the formation of a Palestinian state, since 2009. However, many members of the party still do not support this and strongly oppose any Palestinian state. In government, Likud has supported expansion of settlements in the West Bank, but, at the same time, was responsible for the 2005 withdrawal from Gaza. Currently they are very wary of progress and make high demands of security as the first priority. During the 2015 election, Bibi Netanyahu claimed that there would never be a Palestinian state under his rule.

Economics: The party generally do not favour interfering in the economy and look to give freedom to businesses to be able to do as they wish. Netanyahu has argued that workers unions have too much power, and that laziness is the main cause of people not having jobs

Religion and state: Likud is a secular party, but has consistently been able to work alongside the more religious parties in government and is seen by the religious parties to be the most reliable partner for this aim. They have, however, expressed interest in extending conscription to the army to the Haredim, who currently are exempt. Yisrael Beitenu

Party Leader: Avigdor Lieberman

Founded: 1999

Yisrael Beiteinu is one of the five parties currently working together in the government led by Likud. At the last election, they ran jointly with Likud, but have not merged with them. The party is on the right of Israeli politics. Most of its supporters are from the large population of Russian Jews.

Priorities

Palestinian relations: YB supports a two-state solution with extensive redrawing of the borders between Israel and a new Palestinian state, with some areas which have been controlled by Israel since 1949 being given away in order to gain largely Jewish areas in the West Bank. They have a harsh stance on security of Israel and towards Arabs within Israel, previously using the slogan “no loyalty, no citizenship”. They would encourage Arab citizens in all of Israel to move to any future Palestinian state.

Religion and state: The Russian community often faces problems because many of those who came to Israel are not seen as Jewish by the Rabbinate. This has led to YB supporting moderation of the power of the Rabbinate in Israel, making it easier for marriage to occur by giving people more freedom to choose the Rabbi under whose authority they are married and supporting the rights of those who have converted in Israel to be considered as Jewish by the state. Yesh Atid

Party Leader: Yair Lapid

Founded: 2013

Yesh Atid (‘There is a future’) was a new party in the last election, founded by a well-known newsreader – Yair Lapid – in order to more represent the secular Jewish population, who make up a large portion of society. They achieved instant success, becoming the second largest party in the parliament and joining the government. In the 2015 election however, they lost many of their seats and are now in opposition. They are in the centre of politics.

Priorities

Ultra-Orthodox Issues: Currently, Haredi youth do not have to join the army and are free instead to go to yeshiva. Yesh Atid made it a priority to campaign against this, seeing it as a symbol of how religious needs are put ahead of those of the rest of the country. Yesh Atid also opposes special benefits to enable the very religious to study rather than work.

Economy: Yesh Atid supports the ideals of the Social Justice campaigners, who wanted changes to be made in order to reduce inequality between the wealthy and poor and who wanted more house building in order to lower the very high price of homes in Israel currently and enable more people to buy a home to live in.

Religion and State: In representing the rights of secular Israelis, Yesh Atid opposes the forcing of religious law onto the population of Israel, including with regards to Shabbat, where transport does not run and shops do not open in most of Israel. Kulanu

Party Leader: Moshe Khalon

Founded: 2014

Founded in 2014, Kulanu is a centre-right political party led by Moshe Khalon which prioritises cost- of-living issues and the economy. The party was founded in 2014 after Khalon split from Likud, and is now a part of the coalition Government. The Party considers itself to be centrist.

Priorities

Lower & Middle class issues: Khalon appeals to both Lower and Middle class voters, he himself coming from a lower class Libyan family. The party specifically targets Sephardi and Mizrachi Jews. The party also focuses on poverty, income inequalities, and housing crises.

Palestinian relations: The party has a pragmatic view to peace, and Khalon has been compared to Jabotinsky in his views of national liberalism. He claims Kulanu would support a diplomatic approach to peace, working with Palestinian authorities. Kulanu is also anti-settlements, but values social issues more than relations with Palestinians.

Religion & state: Kulanu supports the increase of state benefits to non-Orthodox denominations of Judaism. They also support civil marriage in Israel (both heterosexual and homosexual), and would go as far as making some public transport available on Shabbat, something that does not currently exist. The Jewish Home

Party Leader: Naftali Bennet

Founded: 2008

The Jewish Home was founded as a merger of several religious parties and represents the interests of modern orthodox Jews in Israel primarily. After increasing their number of MKs from 3 to 12 at the previous election, their numbers fell to 8 as they lost voters to the Likud party. However, they again became part of the coalition Government.

Priorities

Religion and State: As a Religious Zionist party, Jewish Home believes the state of Israel should be governed by Jewish law. This means they believe that Shabbat should be made to be the day of rest and that no transport should run or shops open. They also believe the orthodox rabbinate should keep control of matters such as marriage and of holy sites like the Kotel.

Palestinian relations: The party’s supporters believe it is their religious duty to keep hold over the whole land of Israel – which includes the West Bank. Many members are Jewish settlers in the West Bank and the party supports the right of them to live there and calls for Israel to annex the areas Israel currently controls in the West Bank, whilst opposing concessions to the Palestinians.

Ultra-orthodox communities: Despite themselves being a religious party, Jewish Home disagree with the Haredi community’s current exemption from joining the army so they can go to yeshivah, seeing protecting the Jewish state as one of the highest forms of service possible. They campaigned at the election for the exemption which Haredim receive to be scrapped. Zionist Union

Party Leaders: Isaac Hertzog & Tzipi Livni

Founded: 2014

The Zionist Union was founded when Avoda (Labour) and Hatnua (‘The movement’) joined together in the hopes of defeating Netanyahu in the 2015 election. The party is centre-left, and was seen as having the best chance to gain power for the left in a decade. However, they were defeated in the election, gaining 24 seats. That was still enough to see them become the second biggest party in the Knesset and the leaders of the opposition.

Priorities

Social issues: The party is committed to solving economic woes and reducing the cost of living. They believe the gap between rich and poor is too vast and needs closing. They also want to reduce the cost of health care, education, and basic goods.

Palestinian relations: The party want to reignite negotiations as part of a collective effort with regional allies Egypt and Jordan, before presenting a peace initiative to the Arab League. They also want to stop the building of settlements to mend relations with the USA and EU.

Religion and State: The Zionist Union want to ensure there is legal standing for non-orthodox streams of Judaism. They also plan to open public transport on Shabbat, further seperating religion and state. Shas

Party Leader: Aryeh Deri

Founded: 1984

Shas, an acronym meaning “Guards of the Torah”, are a party representing the ultra-orthodox Sephardi and Mizrahi Jews. The party was founded by a former Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel and continues to be the party of choice for Sephardim in Israel and often a powerful force. Currently they form part of the government.

Priorities

Religion and State: Shas calls for Israel to be governed according to the Halakah, or Jewish law. This involves retaining the power of the Orthodox Rabbinate over matters such as marriage and burial, keeping Shabbat as the national day of rest and wanting no transport to run or shops to open and they are opposed to the normalisation of homosexuality, including events such as Gay Pride.

Palestinian Relations: Shas has been sceptical towards the peace process in recent years and now opposes any freeze on the building of settlements in the West Bank. In particular, the party believe there needs to be a United Jerusalem – that the city should not be divided between Israel and Palestine – and in the maintenance of yeshivot and holy sites in the West Bank. A major policy with relation to any peace deal is the demand for compensation for those Sephardi and Mizrahi Jews who were forced to leave their home countries in the Arab world after the foundation of the state of Israel.

Economy: Shas has long supported the rights of Sephardi Jews in Israel, considering them to be discriminated by the Ashkenazi majority. They setup their own education system in poor Sephardi areas and continue to try and gain greater rights and benefits for those they represent. United Torah Judaism

Party Leader: Yaakov Litzman and Moshe Gafni

Founded: 1992

Number of Seats in the Knesset: 6

United Torah Judaism was formed as an alliance of small Haredi, Ultra-Orthodox parties. Its two parties inside it are a party guided by the heads of some of the yeshivas and another party guided by the followers of Hasidism. The alliance came about because otherwise each party individually may not get enough votes to get any seats at all in the Knesset. Currently UTJ are part of the coalition government.

Priorities

Religion and State: The main priority of UTJ is that Israel should remain a Jewish state, governed by Jewish law. This includes keeping the power of the Rabbinate of Israel to make decisions over matters such as marriage and burial. It also means keeping Shabbat as the national day of rest and having no transport running or shops opening on this day.

Ultra-orthodox issues: UTJ believes that the most important service Jews can do to the state of Israel is by engaging in the study of Torah. For this reason, it strongly supports the current exemption which Haredim receive from joining the army, as well as benefits which the very religious receive from the state in order to enable them to devote to study and still afford to live.

Palestinian Relations: UTJ takes no specific stance with relation to the Palestinians and considers itself governed in all matters far more by religion than any security or diplomatic needs. Meretz

Party Leader: Zehava Gal-On

Founded: 1992

Meretz is a secular, liberal, left-wing party which was formed by a merger of three other parties. It has been in government before alongside the Labour party, but is currently not in the Netanyahu government. It supports the ideas of social equality and equal rights for all.

Priorities

Palestinian Relations: Meretz is a firm believer in the idea of the two-state solution and strongly campaigns on the idea of giving over the occupied territories in the West Bank and the stopping of settlement building. In addition, it also campaigns for those Palestinians within Israel’s borders who have Israeli citizenship should be given equal rights within Israel and not face discrimination.

Religion and State: As a secular party, Meretz believes it is necessary for there to be a separation of religion and state and for a reduction in the power of the rabbinate. The party supports taking events such as marriage and burial out of the hands of the rabbis and giving the ability for non- religious marriage to take place. They also do not support the state imposing Jewish laws such as those relating to Shabbat.

Economy: The party supports the idea of all citizens having equal opportunity and supports an expansion of state welfare to those who are in need of it. Meretz also supports policies which make it easier for people to get by, including plans for more house building to make it cheaper to buy houses. Joint List

Leader: Ayman Odeh

Founded: 2015

There were three parties representing Arab Israelis in the Knesset, each with a few seats. Then in 2015, the parties merged, and now make up the second largest group of the opposition. Arab Israelis make up around 20% of the population, but many do not vote, which is why the Arab parties have far less than 20% of the seats.

Priorities

Palestinian Relations: All of the Arab parties support the idea of the establishment of a two-state solution with a Palestinian state in the West Bank. Working towards this goal, they oppose strongly the continued building of settlements in the West Bank.

Arab rights: The Arab parties campaign against what they perceive to be the discrimination Arab citizens of Israel receive in daily life and support policies to get Arabs the same level of services and support which the Jewish population receive and to recognise the equal rights of Arabs as part of Israel. They also support the right of return – that those Palestinians who were removed from or fled their homes and became refugees in 1948 should be allowed to return to Israel now and gain citizenship.

Religion and State: Arab parties oppose the Orthodox Jewish control which is put on Israel, particularly with regards to Shabbat, where buses do not run and shops are closed despite the day having no significance for the non-Jewish Israeli population.

Other: The party also focuses on Socialists, Feminists, Islamists, and Palestinian Nationalists in its ideology.