(Oct. 26, 2026 / JNS)
Israel’s two political blocs are deadlocked and leading the Jewish state toward a second round of elections, Reservists-New Economic Party chairman Yoaz Hendel warned on Monday, less than 24 hours before voting opened.
“The only way out is to form a Zionist government,” he told JNS.
Such a coalition would exclude “anti-Zionist ultra-Orthodox parties” and Arab parties “that do not recognize Hamas as a terrorist organization,” Hendel said.
He said his party is the only one outside both Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s bloc of right-wing parties, which includes the haredi factions, and the bloc led by Gadi Eisenkot, which includes the Arab parties.
The Reservists-New Economic Party is willing to join a government with any party except haredi and Arab ones, Hendel said.
Its key objectives are universal military conscription and lowering the cost of living, he said. “We believe that those who serve should also be the ones leading the country.”
On Netanyahu, Hendel said the party has its “own position,” adding, “He is not the central issue—he is not what matters most.”
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Amelie Botbol is a diplomatic correspondent for JNS. Originally from Casablanca, Morocco, she made aliyah in 2014. Her reporting focuses on major international developments and the Israeli political arena, including weekly coverage from the Knesset. She also produced one of the world’s most extensive bodies of reporting on Israel’s hostage crisis following the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led terrorist attacks.