Ayelet Shaked warns partners: "You don't understand how hard it is to pass the electoral threshold"
Amid negotiations for a joint list, Ayelet Shaked warns her partners against running independently: "Mobilizing a base and bringing in voters is a much more complex task than it seems from the outside."
During negotiations between Benny Gantz, Dedi Simhi, Yuli Edelstein, and Ayelet Shaked regarding the possibility of forming a joint list, Shaked issued a clear warning to her partners at the negotiating table regarding the immense difficulty of running independently in the elections.
As reported by 'Walla', in these conversations, Shaked told her colleagues that they are underestimating the challenge of passing the electoral threshold:
"You have not tried to run alone. I have. You do not understand how hard it is. It might look simple from the outside, but mobilizing a base and bringing in voters is a very complex task. Passing the electoral threshold is a much harder task than it seems."
Shaked is familiar with the challenge from personal experience. In the 2019 elections, she and Naftali Bennett left The Jewish Home to establish the 'New Right' party. Despite a strong starting position and flattering polls, the party failed to pass the electoral threshold. Similarly, in the 2022 elections, when she headed The Jewish Home, Shaked failed to get the party into the Knesset.
In internal discussions, Shaked argued that the task today is even more complex. According to her, other political figures are currently competing for the same pool of voters, including Gilad Erdan, Yoaz Hendel, and Chili Tropper, which makes any attempt to establish a new list that will succeed in crossing the electoral threshold even more difficult.
Shaked's warning comes against the backdrop of continued negotiations, which have not yet matured into agreements. At the center of the discussions are questions of leadership, the composition of the list, and the ability to generate significant political power without losing votes below the electoral threshold — a scenario that each of the partners seeks to avoid.
