Ben-Gvir and Smotrich Run Separately in Israel's Election
Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, leaders of Israeli ultranationalist parties, will not appear on a joint slate in the upcoming election. Their parties had previously joined forces in deals brokered by Benjamin Netanyahu.
Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, who lead two ultranationalist parties in Israel, are going into the country's parliamentary election separately rather than together, The New York Times reports.
The two men's parties have teamed up on joint slates before. Those arrangements were brokered by Benjamin Netanyahu, an Israeli politician. This time no such merger has taken place, and each leader is running with his own party.
The source does not say why the two chose different paths, nor how the split might affect the vote. The development matters because it changes the layout of Israel's ultranationalist camp in the election: two leaders who were previously on the same slate are now competing separately for voters.
