Netanyahu to speak at mass right-wing rally in Tel Aviv

A week after the Left held a large rally in Rabin Square in Tel Aviv titled "Israel Wants Change," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is scheduled to address a rally of the Right at the same site this evening. The United Headquarters for the Land of Israel, which organized the event, believes that tens of thousands of people will attend.

In addition to the prime minister, who was added to the lineup on Saturday night, the heads of all the right-wing parties and Yahad leader Eli Yishai are slated to speak, as well as Knesset members Meir Porush (United Torah Judaism) and representatives of the organizers, including settlement activist Daniella Weiss.

Yishai said Saturday that he would not join an ultra-Orthodox anti-Netanyahu bloc.

"I'll vote with the haredi parties on matters of religion and state, but I won't lend my hand to a putsch against Netanyahu," he said at a conference in Maaleh Adumim.

"If they're depending on me to repeat that dirty trick, I'm not the right one," Yishai said.

Yishai is expected to reiterate his statements at this evening's rally. The Yahad founder and chairman also said that "if they expect me to cooperate to put [Zionist Union leader Isaac] Herzog in power, I'm not the right one. The moment it was clear that Yahad could tip the scales and without it there would be no right-wing government, I started to get hints, but I made it clear I wouldn't zigzag. I promised my voters from the start that we would endorse Netanyahu, and that's what we'll do."

Likud minister Yisrael Katz called on activists to attend the rally, saying, "The election is fateful for the future of the state. The media and the elite have been trying to topple the Likud and put the Left and the Arabs in power, so we cannot sit home."

Politicians who had been hesitant to express public support for the event changed their tune over the weekend. On Saturday, Habayit Hayehudi leader Naftali Bennett and party colleague MK Ayelet Shaked issued statements urging supporters to turn out en masse.

In a video clip posted on Facebook, Bennett said, "Do you generally believe what you call the media? So don't [believe them] this time, either. The media is trying to oppress the Right and make us despair, as if the election was already over and Buji [Herzog] and Tzipi [Zionist Union No. 2 Tzipi Livni] are already prime ministers. We won't let that despair win. At 7 p.m. Sunday, there will be a big demonstration by the true national camp."

Shaked said she urged "the entire national camp to come to the square. The Left has money, the Right has spirit."

Shaked posted a short clip of her own, in which she said that on Sunday evening "everyone [would] meet in Rabin Square. We'll show the leftists that the government can't be changed by foreign money. The spirit and strength of the national camp will win the election. I'll be there -- you should, too."

In addition to politicians and activists, artists Udi Davidi and Amir Benayoun are slated to perform at the event. According to the organizers, some 700 buses have been chartered to bring people to the rally, with tens of thousands more expected to arrive on their own.

"In stark contrast to the atmosphere of gloom that marked the Left's rally a week ago, which got people down with people crying on stage, today's demonstration will bolster the sense of unity and mutual concern for the land of Israel."

The organizers promised "an electrified atmosphere created by an ideology that is inseparable from the values of love for the land, a strong connection to Jewish tradition, legacy, and history -- an atmosphere of unity and joy."

Meretz petitions against rally

Meanwhile, Meretz Director General Dror Morag and Meretz party member Mossi Raz were expected on Sunday to file a petition with the Central Elections Committee to stop the right-wing demonstration from taking place, arguing that public funds were being used to produce the event.

According to the petition, the Likud, Habayit Hayehudi, and Yisrael Beytenu were in violation of Article 2a of the Knesset Elections Law, which forbids "election propaganda funded by public assets of official bodies, or pertaining to the petition -- various local authorities."

Morag and Raz are also seeking to prevent the Gush Etzion, Mount Hebron and Jordan Valley regional councils as well as the Ariel Local Council, which have endorsed ads by the United Headquarters for the Land of Israel calling on the general public to attend the demonstration, from using public funds to produce the event.

"The purpose of the petition isn't to stop the rally, but rather to ensure it won't be put on using public funds and won't entail acts that violate election laws," Morag said in a statement.

טעינו? נתקן! אם מצאתם טעות בכתבה, נשמח שתשתפו אותנו