BICOM

Political newcomer Naftali Bennett was yesterday elected as leader of the Jewish Home Party, defeating long-serving parliamentarian Zevulun Orlev.

Although the final results have yet to be confirmed, Orlev conceded defeat and announced his retirement from politics with more than half of the votes counted, which indicated that Bennett had won between 60 to 67 per cent of the vote. Around half of the religious Zionist party’s 54,000 members took to the polls to elect 40-year-old Bennett, who is formerly a chief of staff of Benjamin Netanyahu during his time as leader of the opposition. Born to American parents, Bennett served as a commander in the elite Sayeret Matkal unit and then embarked on a successful business career, founding and selling a prominent high-tech company. He has also served as Director General of the Yesha Council of settlements.

Bennett is considered by many as a fresh face for a party which has undergone several reincarnations over the past few years, but recently recruited a significant number of new members in advance of yesterday’s leadership election. Some predict that Jewish Home can expect to markedly increase its representation of just three members of parliament in the next Knesset, potentially winning votes at the expense of the joint Likud Beitenu list.

Jewish Home is the successor to the right-wing National Religious Party, which historically operated as a mid-sized political force, commanding between 10-12 seats between 1955-1977. In addition to the election of Bennett, Jewish Home will hope to receive an electoral boost having recently joined forces with the National Union, which currently has four Knesset members. Both parties agree in their opposition to a Palestinian state, but the National Union (itself a coalition of smaller political factions) will no longer include two of its more extreme representatives, after MKs Michael Ben-Ari and Aryeh Eldad decided to form their own independent list.