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Derekh Eretz (political faction)

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Derekh Eretz
דרך ארץ
LeaderYoaz Hendel
Zvi Hauser
Founded29 March 2020 (2020-03-29)
Split fromTelem
Blue and White
HeadquartersMana St. 11, Tel Aviv
Ideology
Political positionCentre-right[citation needed]
National affiliationNew Hope (2021–2022)
Colours  Blue
Knesset
0 / 120
Website
derech-eretz.org.il

Derekh Eretz (Hebrew: דרך ארץ, lit.'The Way of the Land') is a centre-right political party in Israel. It was formed in March 2020 by Zvi Hauser and Yoaz Hendel after they left Telem.

History

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On 2 March 2020, elections were held for the Twenty-third Knesset, in which Zvi Hauser and Yoaz Hendel ran for the Knesset as a part of the Telem party and the larger Blue and White alliance. In the election, the alliance received 1,220,381 votes and 33 seats in the Knesset, making them the second largest parliamentary group behind the right-wing Likud party.[citation needed]

Although they came in second, Blue and White, and their leader, Benny Gantz, received the recommendations of a majority of Knesset members to form a government. However, many in the alliance, including Hauser and Hendel, feared the formation of a minority government with the support of the Joint List. After receiving the recommendations, President Reuven Rivlin formally gave Gantz a mandate to form a government.[1] To that end, Gantz began negotiations to form a unity government with incumbent Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his Likud party. In response to this development, Yesh Atid, a centrist party in Blue and White led by Yair Lapid, and Ya'alon's Telem party, applied to split their factions from Blue and White. Hauser and Hendel, who supported the alliance's entry into a unity government, applied to split themselves from the Telem party. On 29 March 2020, the House Committee approved the division of Hauser and Hendel from Telem, and the formation of their own faction—Derekh Eretz.[2]

On 8 December, both Hauser and Hendel announced they would join Gideon Sa'ar's recently formed New Hope.[3] Neither were included when an alliance between Blue and White and New Hope was announced and they went on to join forces with Yamina in an alliance called Zionist Spirit that was announced on 27 July 2022.[4] The alliance was ended in early September, when the two parties split up.[5] Hendel and Hauser announced on 13 September that the party would not run in the 2022 election.[6]

Leaders

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Leader Took office Left office
Yoaz Hendel 2020 Present
Zvi Hauser 2020 Present

Knesset members

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Knesset term Members Total
2020–2021 2 Yoaz Hendel, Zvi Hauser
2021–2022 1 Zvi Hauser

Election results

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Election Leader Votes % Seats +/– Status
2020 Yoaz Hendel
Zvi Hauser
Part of Blue and White
2 / 120
Coalition government
2021 Part of New Hope
1 / 120
Decrease 1 Coalition government

References

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  1. ^ Raoul Wootliff (15 March 2020). "Rivlin to task Gantz with forming government after he receives 61 endorsements". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 21 March 2024.
  2. ^ Gil Hoffman (29 March 2020). "Blue and White splits into four parts after mergers and trades". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 21 March 2024.
  3. ^ "Sa'ar party gets first boost as Derech Eretz MKs Hendel, Hauser join up". The Times of Israel. 9 December 2020. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
  4. ^ Carrie Keller-Lynn (27 July 2022). "Beleaguered right-wing leaders Shaked and Hendel unite as Zionist Spirit party". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 27 July 2022.
  5. ^ "Zionist Spirit's Shaked, Hendel end their short-lived political partnership". The Times of Israel. 11 September 2022. Retrieved 11 September 2022.
  6. ^ "Derech Eretz party MKs drop out of race". Arutz Sheva. 13 September 2022. Retrieved 15 September 2022.