Hendel said not expected to run with Gantz and Simhi amid Haredi coalition dispute

Reservists leader vows to boycott Haredi parties, but Gantz and newcomer Simhi haven’t ruled out sitting with them; meetings among the potential allies ongoing while party chair Hendel on active IDF duty

By Ariela Karmel

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Ariela Karmel is a political correspondent at The Times of Israel. She previously reported for Calcalist and Haaretz. She holds an MA in Middle Eastern and African History from Tel Aviv University and a BA in Political Science from the University of British Columbia.

Talks between Yoaz Hendel’s Reservists party and an emerging alliance led by Blue and White chairman Benny Gantz and political newcomer Dedy Simhi have collapsed over disagreements about joining a possible future coalition with the ultra-Orthodox parties, according to Hebrew media reports on Sunday.

Hendel is now reportedly in advanced talks with former Blue and White MK Chili Tropper, who left Gantz’s party in May, as well as senior lawmaker Yuli Edelstein, who quit Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party over the weekend and has been reported to be forming a new right-wing breakaway party from Likud along with former Likud minister UN Ambassador Gilad Erdan, and current Deputy Foreign Minister Sharren Haskel.

A Reservists spokesperson told The Times of Israel that there is no update on the party’s plans, saying that it has been holding “a series of meetings with various figures” in recent weeks while Hendel, a reserve battalion commander, remains on active duty and that “no decision will be made until he returns.”

Last month, amid widespread speculation that Hendel, Gantz, and Simhi were close to announcing a joint run, The Times of Israel reported that the negotiations had stalled over a fundamental disagreement between Hendel and Simhi over the possibility of joining a coalition that includes the ultra-Orthodox parties.

Hendel, who founded the fledgling Reservists last year to pass a universal draft law, has repeatedly ruled out joining a coalition with the Haredi parties, which are campaigning to preserve draft exemptions for ultra-Orthodox men.

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Hendel has said that party membership would be restricted only to those who have performed military or national service.

Simhi, by contrast, is willing to join a government with the Haredi parties, and has said that his primary goal is forming a “broad Zionist government” and preventing another election.

Gantz has used similar rhetoric, rejecting any coalition dependent on outside support from Arab parties but not explicitly ruling out sitting with the Haredi parties.

With neither Blue and White nor the Reservists polling above the 3.25 percent electoral threshold for months, a joint list including Gantz, Simhi, and Hendel was projected to win seven seats, allowing both parties to comfortably enter the Knesset.

Such a merger would do little to alter the overall balance between the pro-Netanyahu and opposition blocs, neither of which can currently form a government according to polls. The union’s significance may instead lie in future coalition negotiations following the election.

While Gantz, Hendel, and Simhi have all criticized Netanyahu, none has categorically ruled out serving under him, raising the possibility that the party could emerge as a kingmaker and provide Netanyahu with an additional option as a coalition partner beyond his traditional ultra-Orthodox and far-right allies.

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