Itamar Ben Gvir Uses Loophole to Secure Extra 1.6 Million NIS in Public Funding
Otzma Yehudit leader Itamar Ben Gvir has registered a shelf party to secure an extra 1.6 million NIS in annual public funding, while the BeYachad alliance has filed a technical split agreement.
The Minister of National Security and leader of the Otzma Yehudit party, Itamar Ben Gvir, has once again utilized a legal loophole to secure additional public funding for his political faction, repeating a tactic he employed in the previous Knesset elections.
Itamar Ben Gvir registered a "shelf party" named "Eretz Yisrael Shelanu" (Our Land of Israel) under the names of Minister Yitzhak Wasserlauf and MK Yitzhak Kroizer. This maneuver allows the faction to receive an extra funding unit worth 1.6 million NIS annually.
According to Israeli law, political parties receive ongoing public funding units for each Knesset member representing them, plus one additional funding unit for the party itself. For example, a party with five seats receives six funding units—five for its lawmakers and one for the party organization. By registering a second official party alongside Otzma Yehudit, Itamar Ben Gvir secures an entire extra funding unit for the entity registered under Yitzhak Wasserlauf and Yitzhak Kroizer.
BeYachad Prepares Split Agreement
In a parallel political development, the newly formed "BeYachad" alliance, led by Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid, submitted a formal split agreement alongside their unified candidate list.
While the unified faction does not currently intend to separate after the elections, this bureaucratic procedure legally preserves their right to split into independent factions post-election. Similar technical agreements have been utilized in the past by other political mergers, such as National Unity and Blue and White.
