Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked, leader of the Habayit Hayehudi (Jewish Home) Party, will not quit the election race even though she has yet to pass the electoral threshold in any poll, she said at the The Jerusalem Post Leaders’ Summit election conference on Monday.
“In polls that ask who you would vote for if the electoral threshold was not a factor, I receive five to six seats,” Shaked said. “The fact that I am not passing so far is a chicken and an egg,” Shaked added, explaining that people do not want to vote for her because they are afraid their vote will be wasted – but this in turn is causing her not to pass the electoral threshold in polls.
“I am trying to convince people to vote with their heart,” Shaked said, adding that even if opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu will be able to form a coalition without her, she would still like Habayit Hayehudi to join it, since it could lead to more stability.
Will Ayelet Shaked keep running in Israel's election?
In a picture that went viral on Sunday night, Shaked can be seen sitting in an empty chair in a conference room, with her eyes half closed and jaws clenched, portraying exhaustion. The photo left many wondering whether she would indeed continue running.
“It is no secret that my days are packed. Traveling from place to place. Traveling all over our amazing country,” Shaked wrote on Facebook regarding the photo.
תודה לאבישג שאר ישוב שתפסה אותי ברגע נדיר של מחשבה.זה לא סוד שאני עוברת ימים עמוסים. נסיעות ממקום למקום. חורשת את הארץ המדהימה שלנו לאורכה ולרוחבה.כן אני עייפה, לא ישנה מספיק, אבל יודעת שאני חזקה ושאני נלחמת. לא רק עבור הבית היהודי אלא עבור המדינה שלי. pic.twitter.com/9gpHTfbkFC
— איילת שקד Ayelet Shaked (@Ayelet__Shaked) October 23, 2022
“Yes, I am tired, do not sleep enough – but I know that I am strong and I am fighting. Not just for Habayit Hayehudi but for my country,” she wrote.
Channel 12 News political analyst Amit Segal reported on Sunday that despite her denials, Shaked was considering quitting the race and would decide based on the next few polls.
However, following the report the Interior minister sent a message to her supporters saying, “Friends we are continuing at full strength! Ignore all of the background noise and analyses in the television studios.”
Shaked has not passed the 3% mark in any polls since she broke off her partnership with Communications Minister Yoaz Hendel in order to join Habayit Hayehudi in August.
The election threshold is 3.25% of the general vote, which was about 143,000 votes in the 2021 election. The votes given to parties that do not pass the threshold are not counted in the final tally.
“Without the Bayit Yehudi in the 25th Knesset there will be no government and we will go to a 6th Elections for the 26th Knesset," Habayit Hayehudi number 10, Jeremy Saltan, added in response to a Jerusalem Post query.
“If she drops out of the race over one hundred thousand voters will have no one to vote for. It makes zero sense to leave,” he added.