Following Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's sudden dismissal of Education Minister Naftali Bennett and Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked, the co-leaders of the New Right party, which failed to pass the electoral threshold in the recent general elections, convened a joint meeting with party activists Sunday night.
Shaked will take the next few days to consider her next political move, Israel Hayom has learned. It should be noted that despite previous reports that certain Likud officials sought to recruit Shaked to the party's ranks ahead of the upcoming snap election on September 17, that option has effectively been removed from the table.
A short while ahead of the New Right meeting, Bennett told reporters outside his home that despite the party's failure in the last election, he intends to run again with the party in the upcoming election.
"It's not good that Israel has to repeat elections but it's an opportunity to come back smarter, more serious and more modest," Bennett said. "That goes for me, too. The New Right will be a unifying party."
He added: "The New Right will bring tidings to the nationalist right-wing camp, which unifies all segments of the nation. Religious, secular, traditional – everyone together," he continued. "It will be a party that doesn't give up and doesn't compromise on its positions but doesn't only look to fight with the Left. We will strive for the party to galvanize many good Israelis."
Officials in the Prime Minister's Office said that "Bennett and Shaked cannot continue to serve in sensitive cabinet positions for another half a year, because they were not elected by the public [in the last election]."
In a joint statement, Bennett and Shaked said they would cooperate with their replacements to ensure a smooth transition.
"From the bottom of our hearts, we thank the people of Israel for the rare privilege to serve them as ministers of education and justice," they said.
"Everything we have done was for the good of the State of Israel and its citizens. We will hand over the offices we chaired in an organized fashion, to the ministers who will replace us, to ensure a smooth transition and so that the next school year will open in due order."
According to some reports, Netanyahu plans to fill the vacated cabinet seats with members of his own Likud party, rather than with members of Habayit Heyhudi, which is the party that Bennett and Shaked entered the Knesset with and passed the electoral threshold.
United Right party leaders Rafi Peretz and Bezalel Smotrich have demanded the vacant portfolios.
On Monday, Smotrich also denied that he was involved in Netanyahu's decision to dismiss Bennett and Shaked.
"I was not involved in the dismissal of Bennett and Shaked. This is a decision by the prime minister," he said in an interview to Reshet Bet.
On Sunday, Smotrich told Army Radio that Shaked would not be given the top slot on any joint list.
"You left, you destroyed, you failed, and now because of your mistake, the country is going through [another election] because of you," Smotrich said. "You can join us but there is no reason in the world for you to be number one."
Smotrich later said, "I invite Bennett and anyone who wants to serve the public in the Knesset and in the government to unite into one big right-wing party."
Rabbi Haim Drukman, a leader in the religious-Zionist camp and one of the more influential rabbis in Habayit Haeyhudi, told Israel Hayom that the party's doors were still open to both Bennett and Shaked.
"I'm in favor of all right-wing parties uniting," Drukman said. "But we need to sit down and decide on the details."
