Anyone wishing to register a new party for the February 10th general election for the 18th Knesset may no longer do so. The registration process expired last week, on November 11th. Officially, 81 parties are listed but many remain listed and registered, but nevertheless will not be running in the election.

In the 2006 election for the 17th Knesset, 31 parties competed, of which 12 passed the minimum threshold to enter the Knesset. Since then, six news parties were registered, including “A Strong Israel” by Dr. Ephraim Sneh, who broke away from Labor; Arkadi Gaydamak’s Social Justice Party; and Hatikvah of Prof. Aryeh Eldad.

The law requires a NIS 1,915 registration fee and NIS 73,000 to cover the costs of publicity in newspapers to announce the establishment of the new party, as demanded by law.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)