Sadan denies backing Shaked for head of joint religious right-wing parties
Eliyahu’s support for Shaked would be somewhat surprising since he signed a letter just a few weeks ago stating that the head of any joint list of religious parties should be someone religious.
By JEREMY SHARONJustice Minister Ayelet Shaked speaks at a press conference announcing Israel's acceptance to the FATF, December 10th, 2018(photo credit: Courtesy)
Senior religious-Zionist figure Rabbi Eli Sadan has denied backing Ayelet Shaked to head a united list of all the right-wing religious parties, following her return to the political scene after she announced Sunday night she would be leading the New Right party into the new elections.According to a report by Channel 13 News, Sadan together with Chief Rabbi of Safed Shmuel Eliyahu, have given their backing to Shaked to head a joint list of Bayit Yehudi, National Union, New Right, and any other right-wing parties that may join.Sadan however denied the report, saying that he supported a joint list on the religious right to maximize the electoral power of the religious-Zionist community, but does not get involved in political decisions.He told The Jerusalem Post that the Channel 13 report was “false” and that he trusts the parties to arrive at the right decision.“Rabbi Eli [Sadan] supports the unification of all the right-wing religious-Zionist parties. Beyond that, Rabbi Sadan is convinced that politicians will act in the best way possible to to maximize the electoral potential for their electorate,” he said in statement to the press.A spokesman for Eliyahu did not respond to a request for a comment.Eliyahu’s support for Shaked would be somewhat surprising since he signed a letter just a few weeks ago stating that the head of any joint list of religious parties should be someone religious.The letter was broadly interpreted as a statement of opposition to placing Shaked at the head of such a list, which some on the right have pushed for given her electoral value.The letter, signed by more than 40 religious-Zionist rabbis, stated that anyone heading the list must be a “God-fearing and Torah-observant” individual and should be “someone who flies the banner of Torah.”Sources in the religious-Zionist parties have however acknowledged Shaked’s ability to increase votes for the religious right, and have said that National Union leader and Transportation Minister Bezalel Smotrich would back Shaked to head the list if that was the price for uniting with New Right.
