![Israeli Likud Party campaign material and posters of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu strown on the floor following election night on April 10, 2019 in Tel Aviv, Israel [Jack GUEZ/AFP/Getty]](https://i0.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/GettyImages-1136007662-e1555063098898.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1)
Two right-wing Israeli parties yesterday signed a vote-sharing agreement in an apparent effort to sideline Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud Party.
The move was signed by the leader of the Yamina Party, Naftali Bennett, and Gideon Sa’ar – the founder of the Tikva Hadha (New Hope) Party who recently resigned from the Likud. The accord comes weeks ahead of the upcoming Israeli Knesset elections.
Local i24 described the deal as the “first political strike by the right-wing parties against the ruling Likud.”
“With this agreement in place, the right-wing parties have opened an official battle to contest the legislative election which is due on 23 March,” the news website said, adding that the Likud was “likely to remain the only party without a deal on surplus votes in the twenty-fourth Knesset election.”
Israel is due to hold its fourth election in two years as its coalition government collapsed last month after it could not agree on a budget.
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