Israel’s right-wing camp is fracturing further, as senior politicians from the Likud party—including former finance minister Moshe Kahlon, Deputy Foreign Minister Sharren Haskel, and Likud MK Yuli Edelstein—are in quiet talks to form a breakaway party that could reshape the next election, N12 News reported.
But the initiative faces a fundamental problem: no one can agree who should lead it.
The informally named “Likud B” is designed to appeal to right-wing voters frustrated with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Some backers favor Naftali Bennett or Gadi Eisenkot as a prime ministerial candidate. Others still support Netanyahu. That irreconcilable divide threatens to undermine the entire project, sources told N12.
“It makes it harder for voters to understand the new party’s purpose,” the report noted.
The emerging faction has already drafted basic principles for what it calls a “statesmanlike” right-wing alternative—a party that would not automatically commit itself to Netanyahu’s political bloc or to any opposition alliance. But without a clear prime ministerial face, the party risks appearing as a vehicle for personal ambitions rather than a coherent political vision.
Gilad Erdan, former UN ambassador and minister, has emerged as a critical figure. Political sources assess that Erdan is using the talks to weigh whether to join the breakaway initiative or preserve his leverage for a future Likud leadership contest after Netanyahu.
The push to create an alternative comes as Likud’s grip on Israel’s right-wing voter base erodes. A recent Maariv poll found that Likud lost its position as Israel’s largest party for the first time since June 26, 2025. The party now runs neck and neck with Bennett 2026, Naftali Bennett’s political vehicle.
Broader polls show no decisive shift between Israel’s left and right blocs, creating an opening for a repositioned centrist-right party that could tip the balance in coalition negotiations. That calculation underlies the entire initiative.
Yet internal divisions over Netanyahu himself—and whether a post-Netanyahu right wing is even viable—appear insurmountable at present. Until the organizers resolve the prime ministerial question, the project remains a conversation among elites rather than a coherent political offer.
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