Otzma Yehudit

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Otzma Yehudit
עוצמה יהודית
LeaderAryeh Eldad
Michael Ben-Ari
ChairmanMichael Ben-Ari
SpokespersonMichael Ben-Ari
Founded13 November 2012
Merger ofJewish National Front
Hatikva
Split fromNational Union
HeadquartersJerusalem
IdeologyOne-state solution[1]
Kahanism[2]
Anti-Arabism[3]
Ultranationalism
Political positionFar-right[4]
National affiliationYachad (2015 elections)
Knesset
0 / 120
Most MKs2 (2009)
Election symbol
נץ
Website
http://www.ozma-yeudit.co.il/

Otzma Yehudit (Hebrew: עוצמה יהודית, lit., Jewish Strength) is a far-right[5] political party in Israel, and it has been referred to as the Israeli alt-right[6], Its predecessor party, Otzma LeYisrael (Template:Lang-he-n, lit., Strength for Israel), or Strong Israel,[7] was established on 13 November 2012 by MKs Aryeh Eldad and Michael Ben-Ari, who split from the National Union to form a new party ahead of the 2013 elections.[7] Otzma LeYisrael is seen by some as the ideological descendant of the outlawed Kach party.[8][9] Michael Ben-Ari is the party's spokesman and chairman.[10]

In the 2013 election, Otzma LeYisrael failed to pass the minimum 2% voting threshold by 9,000 votes, and did not receive any seats in the 19th Knesset.[11]

History

Eldad was first elected to the Knesset on the National Union list in 2003.[12] In November 2007, Eldad formed a new secular far-right party named Hatikva.[13] Ultimately, Hatikva ran as a faction of the National Union in the 2009 elections, and Eldad retained his seat.[14]

File:Otzma Yehudit.png
Parties original logo when they were named Otzma LeYisrael

Ben-Ari ran for Knesset unsuccessfully in the 2003 elections with the Herut – The National Movement party, and in the 2006 elections with the Jewish National Front party, both times failing to pass the threshold. Leading up to the 2009 elections, the Jewish National Front, headed by a long-time Kach party activist Baruch Marzel, joined Eretz Yisrael Shelanu, a new party founded by Chabad Rabbi Shalom Dov Wolpo. The joint list ran as part of the National Union, with Michael Ben-Ari, its representative, taking the fourth spot on the alliance's list. The National Union won four seats, allowing Ben-Ari to enter the Knesset.[15]

In November 2012, Michael Ben-Ari announced his campaign slogan for the 2013 elections "There are no rights without duties".[16]

Eldad, a secular hardliner, and Ben-Ari, an ex-Kahanist,[17] decided to form the new faction ahead of the 2013 elections, after they were unable to come to an agreement with the National Union, which was expected to be forming a joint list with the Jewish Home. Eldad was chosen to lead the party's list, followed by Ben-Ari and Marzel.[7]

In 2014, police raided the offices of Otzma Yehudit, due to the offices being shared with the organization Lehava.[18][19] This was also the year that the party announced they would be participating in the next election, they also announced that their slogan would be "those on the right vote Otzma Yehudit! Autonomy? Two states? There's Meretz for that. One state - Otzma Yehudit!"[20]

In 2015, the party chose to contest the 2015 Knesset election as part of a joint list with Yachad; Baruch Marzel was the only candidate from the party to run on the list.[21] It was speculated before the election, that the joint list would win as many as 5 seats in the Knesset.[22] Though in the election, Yachad only won 125,106 votes (2.97%) in the election, falling short of the 3.25% threshold needed for winning seats in the Knesset.[23]After the elections, the party announced that they were planning on establishing an alternative media source. Michael Ben-Ari also said announced that the party was unsure if it planned on competing in other elections.[24]

In 2016, Otzma Yehudit organized a march from Ara to Arara.[25][26] The march started in Ara due to it being the village which Nashat Melhem was from, who was a terrorist responsible for an attack on Tel Aviv.[27] The application for the march was originally denied, however after an appeal to the Supreme Court, the march was allowed to go on, though on condition that they had to respect the conditions set by the police.[25]

In 2016, Otzma Yehudit petitioned Israels High Court of Justice to nullify the rapprochement deal with Turkey. Though the high court struck down the petitions on grounds of insufficient evidence to support their claims.[28]

In 2017, Otzma Yehudit leaders protested Al Jazeera, in hopes to close their offices in Jerusalem.[29] On 19 July 2017, the party requested the police for a permit to organize a march in Umm al-Fahm.[30][31] On July 21 2017, the party distributed food to security forces in Jerusalem.[32] On the evening of 24 July 2017, their party blockaded a junction just outside Nablus, preventing both the entry and exit of Palestinians.[5] On 23 July 2017, dozens of party members demonstrated outside of the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem in the evening the demonstrators called upon Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman to resign.[33]

Controversies

In December 2012, Otzma LeYisrael ran an ad campaign on billboards and bus advertisements that included words in Arabic such as "equality" and "taxes". One of the signs was banned by the Israeli Central Elections Committee on the ground that the ad was racist. The ad shows the Arabic word "loyalty" with Hebrew caption "Because without duties, there are no rights."[34] This ban was later reversed by the Supreme Court of Israel.[35]

Aryeh King, a Ma'ale ha-Zeitim resident, ran as number 4 on the party list of candidates. Later that year, he was elected into the Jerusalem municipal council, where he became Chairman of the Environment Committee, Deputy Chairperson of the Emergency and Security Committee, and a council member on the Regional Planning and Building Committee. While holding these positions, in January 2014, he distributed thousands of flyers to the Arab residents of Jerusalem asking them to leave the Land of Israel in exchange for a negotiated amount, due to the Jewish rights to the land as written down in the Torah and acknowledged in the Koran.[36][37]

Election results

Knesset

Election Votes % Seats +/- Leader Notes
2013[38][39] 64,782 1.76 0 -2 Michael Ben-Ari First election, party leaves National Union.

Knesset members (18th Knesset)

References

  1. ^ Ido Ben-Porat, Ari Yashar (12 December 2014). "Nationalist Party Otzma Yehudit Officially Unveils Platform". Israel National News. Retrieved 13 June 2017.
  2. ^ Anshel Pfeffer (22 January 2013). "10 reasons the polls could be wrong". Haaretz. Retrieved 2 February 2015.
  3. ^ Aaron Kelman (27 January 2013). "Arab town doesn't love anti-Arab party". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 21 June 2015.
  4. ^ Hassan Shaalan (15 January 2013). "Rightists protest 'illegal construction' in Arab village". Ynetnews. Retrieved 2 February 2015.
  5. ^ a b "Work starts on new outpost outside Halamish after deadly terror attack". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 23 July 2017.
  6. ^ "Comment: Israel's alt-right ramps up the pressure on Trump". The Jerusalem Post | JPost.com. Retrieved 19 June 2017.
  7. ^ a b c Harkov, Lahav (13 November 2012). "Eldad, Ben-Ari form new party: Strong Israel". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 21 June 2015.
  8. ^ Aaron Kelman (27 January 2013). "Arab town doesn't love anti-Arab party". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 21 June 2015.
  9. ^ "The extremist who could bring Kahanism back to the Knesset". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 3 July 2017.
  10. ^ "מיכאל בן ארי: ניפוץ אשליית הדו-קיום". ערוץ 7. Retrieved 11 July 2017.
  11. ^ Gil Ronen (24 January 2013). "Otzma Leyisrael was 9,000 Votes Short". Arutz Sheva. Retrieved 2 February 2015.
  12. ^ "Knesset Members in the Sixteenth Knesset". {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  13. ^ "Arye Eldad to head new secular Right party". The Jerusalem Post | JPost.com. Retrieved 4 July 2017.
  14. ^ "National Union - The Israel Democracy Institute". The Israel Democracy Institute. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  15. ^ a b "Knesset Member, Michael Ben Ari". knesset.gov.il. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  16. ^ "Arab town doesn't love anti-Arab party". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
  17. ^ Anshel Pfeffer (2 December 2012). "On the religious right – unity and discord". Haaretz. Retrieved 21 June 2015.
  18. ^ "Police raid offices of anti-assimilation group Lehava". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 3 June 2017.
  19. ^ "Police Raid the Offices of Otzma Yehudit". Israel National News. Retrieved 3 June 2017.
  20. ^ "Nationalist Party Otzma Yehudit Officially Unveils Platform". Israel National News. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
  21. ^ "Yishai's List Finalizes - With Marzel, But Not Ben-Ari". Arutz Sheva. 29 January 2015. Retrieved 2 February 2015.
  22. ^ "Final polls before elections give Herzog 4-point lead". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 13 June 2017.
  23. ^ "Over 235,000 votes thrown in trash". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 13 June 2017.
  24. ^ "Otzma Yehudit: 'We're Crushed but Not Despairing'". Israel National News. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
  25. ^ a b "Marzel invites Arabs to join Otzma Yehudit protest". Israel National News. Retrieved 3 June 2017.
  26. ^ "Otzma Yehudit to march in Arab town". Israel National News. Retrieved 3 June 2017.
  27. ^ "Authorities name Nashat Melhem as Tel Aviv terrorist". Israel National News. Retrieved 3 June 2017.
  28. ^ "High Court dismisses petitions against Turkey detente deal". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 13 June 2017.
  29. ^ "'Close the office of Al Jazeera today'". Israel National News. Retrieved 13 June 2017.
  30. ^ "Otzma Yehudit requests to hold march in Umm el-Fahm - Israel National News". Israel National News. Retrieved 22 July 2017.
  31. ^ "Otzma Yehudit Requests A Permit To Protest In Umm el-Fahm - Yeshiva World News". Yeshiva World News. 20 July 2017. Retrieved 22 July 2017.
  32. ^ "Otzma Yehudit activists distribute food to security forces - Israel National News". Israel National News. Retrieved 25 July 2017.
  33. ^ "'The people expect vengeance'". Israel National News. Retrieved 23 July 2017.
  34. ^ Matti Friedman (16 January 2013). "Coexistence, despite everything". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 2 February 2015.
  35. ^ Elad Benari (16 January 2013). "Supreme Court Allows Otzma LeYisrael and Balad Ads". Arutz Sheva. Retrieved 10 February 2013.
  36. ^ Ari Yashar (15 January 2014). "Jerusalem Councilman Urges Muslims: 'Leave Israel'". Arutz Sheva, IsraelNationalNews.com. Retrieved 20 December 2015.
  37. ^ Ari Yashar (1 November 2013). "'United Jerusalem' Party Joins Coalition". Arutz Sheva, IsraelNationalNews.com. Retrieved 20 December 2015.
  38. ^ "Israeli Parliament - An Analysis of the 2013 Election Results". en.idi.org.il (in Hebrew). Retrieved 25 July 2017.
  39. ^ "Will Otzma's 64,782 Votes Affect 2017 Elections? - Israel National News". Israel National News. Retrieved 25 July 2017.
  40. ^ "Knesset Member, Arieh Eldad". {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)

External links

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