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Ex-Knesset MK Haskel Launches Israel First, Targets Six Seats

8/1/2026

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Summary

Haskel Launches Party

Sharren Haskel resigned from the Knesset and launched the right-wing party Israel First.
She says Israel First must win six seats in the October 27 election to influence the government.
The party will build a coalition that excludes Arab and ultra-Orthodox parties and refuses alliance with left-wing leader Yair Golan.
Haskel’s platform is hawkish on security, liberal economically, and cites UN ambassador Gilad Erdan and MK Yuli Edelstein as allies.

Summary

Likud Gains Seats

A Maariv poll shows Likud gaining seats to 22 while the coalition stays at 49.
Zionist Home cleared the threshold with four seats, giving the coalition a majority.
A centrist party projected at 3.8% may drop Tropper-Hendel’s list below the 2.4% threshold.
A Channel 13 poll forecasts Benjamin Netanyahu and Gadi Eisenkot at 23 seats, Naftali Bennett at 13, and predicts 49% will vote for opposition bloc versus 35% for coalition.

History

Historical Context

In the 1977 “Mahapakh,” Menachem Begin’s Likud won 43 Knesset seats and formed a 61-seat coalition, ending three decades of Labor rule and ushering a right-wing-religious alliance. Today Sharren Haskel’s Israel First seeks six seats to join that Likud bloc while barring Arab and ultra-Orthodox parties, echoing the 1977 significant realignment.

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Haskel Launches Party

Sharren Haskel resigned from the Knesset and launched the right-wing party Israel First.
She says Israel First must win six seats in the October 27 election to influence the government.
The party will build a coalition that excludes Arab and ultra-Orthodox parties and refuses alliance with left-wing leader Yair Golan.
Haskel’s platform is hawkish on security, liberal economically, and cites UN ambassador Gilad Erdan and MK Yuli Edelstein as allies.

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