'Israel should have maximum of 4 political parties'

Deputy Foreign Minister Ayalon urges minor parties to unite like Likud and Yisrael Beytenu in order to "streamline democracy."

By MELANIE LIDMAN
Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon at UNHCR 150 (photo credit: Courtesy of the Foreign Minister's Office)
Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon at UNHCR 150
(photo credit: Courtesy of the Foreign Minister's Office)
Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon on Wednesday cited the Likud-Yisrael Beytenu merger as the first step towards a “streamlined Israeli democracy” with only three or four political parties.
“We believe in a different structure in elections which will enable the majority of people in Israel – the Zionists, the ones who serve in the military or [in] other ways, the backbone of the country – to have their desires implemented,” he said,  speaking a the launch of the Likud-Yisrael Beytenu Anglo group held at a Jerusalem food packaging charity,.
“The system of splinters of parties serves sectors, but the interest of the country as a whole is not sustainable any more.”
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Ayalon challenged the left-wing parties to form a similar union in order to create more “transparency” in the election and the governing process. “It is better to have two big tents and crystallize the ideology within the tent,” said Ayalon, adding that he hopes Israel moves towards a two-party system similar to the US.
Ayalon and Yisrael Beytenu Anglo chairman Ashley Perry said that among the Anglo activists there is “overwhelming support in the field” for the merger with Likud. The chairman of Yisrael Beytenu’s Anglo chapter in the Sharon and Netanya region said he understood the reason for the merger, but had some reservations. “I would prefer they stay separate, there are some things where we have the same message but there are some things where we have a different message – and it’s hard to send that message when we’re together,” he said.
Ayalon also dismissed rumors that MK Moshe Kahlon, currently of Likud, was considering forming his own party. “Fashionable parties never last for more than one term,” he said. “It’s fiction that any party has a monopoly on social justice.”
Ayalon said that Likud-Yisrael Beytenu is making social justice a central aspect of its platform, along with a national service requirement for all, whether army or civil service.