Alternative for Yisrael
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Alternative for Yisrael אלטרנטיבה לישראל | |
|---|---|
| name | Modern Hebrew |
| Leader | Reuven Goldschmidt |
| Founder | Reuven Goldschmidt |
| Founded | November 7, 2019 |
| Split from | Constitutional Liberal Party |
| Headquarters | Modiin, Yisrael |
| Ideology | Centrism Populism Middle-income interests Traditional-interests Internal Factions: Classical liberalism Ordoliberalism Economic liberalism Radical centrism |
| Political position | Center-to-Center-Left |
| Religion | Traditional-sector of Orthodox Judaism |
| International affiliation | Belisarian Community Parliament - the Alliance of Centrists |
| Colors | Light blue |
| Seats in the Royal Knesset | 10 / 142
|
Alternative for Yisrael, also commonly called by its acronym AfY (colloquially), is a contemporary centrist, middle-income family interests, and Traditional-sector interests secondary political party in Yisrael.
The AfY splintered from the chief opposition party the Constitutional Liberals in advance of the 2020 general election due to what its founder ascribed as illegal widespread secularist thought among the Con-Lib ranks. The party at its founding took about a quarter (10 seats) of the Con-Libs' caucus of sitting Members of Knesset. Its political base is thought to compete with the similarly center-right/middle-income-interests Action Yisrael party, which has found great electoral success in the suburban areas outside major metropolitan cities throughout the country.
The AfY is the leading party heading the United Center Bloc in the 2020 general election.
Platform and philosophy
History
Founding
The party was founded by Reuven Goldschmidt on November 7, 2019, about two months before the 2020 general election.
Goldschmidt told the Royal Yerushalayim Dispatch at a press conference that, "I did not leave the Constitutional Liberal Party - it left me. Every year, it seems to embrace more and more foreign ideas that have no place in Yisrael. I have personally observed numerous party leaders, including Members of Knesset, alluding to being secret secularists. My former party no longer represents who I am. I believe the government can have a positive, active role in making our lives better, but we must remember that all we have comes from Hashem [G-d]. I will no longer stay party to a faction that quietly rejects the foundation of our very country."
He was joined by nine other sitting MKs who left the Con-Lib caucus. On November 11, 2019, the AfY registered its new party caucus with the Secretary of the Royal Knesset. On November 14, the AfK announced a large slate of Knesset candidates to compete in targeted Knesset districts.
2020 elections
Presidential election
The same day he announced his new party, Goldschmidt also launched a presidential campaign for the upcoming January 27, 2020 election, facing Conservative Party nominee (and current Foreign Minister) Yitzchok Katz and Constitutional Liberal Party nominee (and sitting Member of Knesset) Yosef Kaduri.
Two early polls out after his launch had Goldschmidt between 22-26% of the vote, with Katz at 38-40% and Kaduri at 24-31%.
On November 17, 2019, the Action Yisrael national committee announced it was leaving the Conservative-led Blue-Gray-Maroon coalition (2018-19) (the 48th Knesset had already concluded its last session before the 2020 election) and that it was cross-endorsing the AfY rather than its former coalition partner the Conservatives for the presidential election, as well as announcing an "United Center" political bloc with the AfY in the new 49th session of the Knesset, pledging to not compete against each other's candidates and to cooperate when the next Knesset is seated.
Knesset elections
Several early polls showed the AfY maintaining its current seats and adding between 3-10 additional seats, mostly at the expense of the Con-Libs, Alliance of Greens, Seculars, and Workers, and to a lesser degree, the Conservatives.
District and local elections
Organization and hierarchy
Election results and current representation
Current representation
The AfY currently have 10 MKs in the Royal Knesset. It is in the minority.
Election results
International affiliation and criticism
The party has is affiliated with the Belisarian Community's Parliament bloc the Alliance of Centrists as well as the Democratic Alternative party in Sydalon.