Sadan denies backing Shaked to head joint list

Senior religious Zionist figure Rabbi Eli Sadan has denied backing Ayelet Shaked to head a united list of right-wing religious parties, following her announcement that she will lead the New Right Party.

According to Channel 13 News, Sadan – together with Chief Rabbi of Safed Shmuel Eliyahu – backed Shaked to head a joint list of Bayit Yehudi, National Union, New Right and any other right-wing parties that may join.

Sadan denied the report, saying he supported a joint list on the religious Right to maximize the electoral power of the religious-Zionist community, but does not get involved in political decisions. He told The Jerusalem Post that the report was “false” and that he trusts the parties to arrive at the right decision.

“Rabbi Eli [Sadan] supports the unification of all the rightwing religious Zionist parties. Beyond that, Rabbi Sadan is convinced that politicians will act in the best way possible to maximize the electoral potential for their electorate,” he said in statement.

A spokesman for Eliyahu did not respond to a request for a comment. Eliyahu’s support for Shaked would be somewhat surprising since he signed a letter just a few weeks ago stating the head of any joint list of religious parties should be someone religious.

The letter, signed by more than 40 religious-Zionist rabbis, stated that anyone heading the list must be a “God-fearing and Torah-observant” individual and should be “someone who flies the banner of Torah.” It was broadly interpreted as a statement of opposition to placing Shaked at the head of such a list, which some on the religious Right have nonetheless pushed for given her electoral value.

Sources in the religious Zionist parties have acknowledged Shaked’s ability to increase votes for the religious Right, and have said that National Union leader and Transportation Minister Bezalel Smotrich would back Shaked to head a joint list if that was the price for uniting with the New Right.

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