Dr. Michael Ben Ari and Baruch Marzel, veteran right-wing figures and former senior leaders of Otzma Yehudit,
announced their formal endorsement of Religious Zionism chairman and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich on Thursday ahead of the upcoming 26th Knesset elections.
The two prominent activists praised Smotrich’s performance during the outgoing Knesset term,highlighting his uncompromising opposition to forming a government reliant on the Islamist Ra’am party,
as well as his concrete stewardship of national finances and settlement policy in Judea and Samaria.
2+Ben Ari declared that he will cast his ballot for the Religious Zionism slate, emphasizing the imperative of full voter turnout across the national camp. “It is clear that in these elections no one stays home. We must get every single person out to vote,” Ben Ari said. “I am voting for you, I am voting for Religious Zionism for two main reasons: First, zero percent noise, 100 percent action. That is how I view your wonderful last term.”
Ben Ari singled out Smotrich’s steadfast refusal to entertain political arrangements supported by Mansour Abbas’s Ra’am party following previous elections as a definitive leadership test.
2+“When no one stood the test of Ra’am, you stood the test,” Ben Ari stated. “When you had to go against the strongest forces within your own camp, you studied, understood the issue, and halted one of the most disastrous maneuvers that could have come upon us. I evaluate a leader by whether he can withstand trials. You could have gotten anything you wanted back then, but you passed the test and stopped a drift everyone else was caught in. For that alone, people must know to vote for you and Religious Zionism.”
Baruch Marzel, who abstained from voting in the November 2022 elections, likewise broke his political silence to rally behind Smotrich, warning of the consequences of voter apathy. “In the previous elections I did not vote, but this time I hear about many people who want to abstain, and I call on everyone: this time we cannot leave Ahmad Tibi and Ra’am to lead the State of Israel. We must strengthen these elections and we must strengthen Bezalel,” Marzel said.
2+While clarifying that his endorsement does not signify blanket agreement on every ideological detail, Marzel drew a stark contrast between Smotrich and other right-wing politicians, underscoring his quiet effectiveness in public office. “We do not agree on every single matter, but there is simply no comparison between him and the others,” Marzel remarked. “Without noise and without bells, he did an extraordinary job, both in the Ministry of Finance, and especially in settlement—where he simply halted the possibility of establishing a Palestinian state.”
Marzel concluded by urging the broader national camp to grant Smotrich parliamentary strength to build upon his policy initiatives: “Therefore, we come to strengthen Bezalel and call on anyone who can to vote for him and support him, so that he will have the power to continue what he began in the outgoing term.”