National Religious Party–Religious Zionism

This article is about the Israeli political party. For its predecessors, see National Religious Party and Religious Zionist Party.

The National Religious Party–Religious Zionism (Hebrew: מפלגה דתית לאומית–הציונות הדתית, romanized: Miflaga Datit Leumit – HaTzionut HaDatit), or Mafdal–Religious Zionism, is a far-right religious Zionist political party in Israel. The party was formed in August 2023, when the Religious Zionist Party and The Jewish Home parties agreed to merge.

National Religious Party– Religious Zionism מפלגה דתית לאומית–הציונות הדתית‎
Abbreviation	Mafdal–RZ
Leader	Bezalel Smotrich
Founders	Bezalel Smotrich Hagit Moshe
Founded	20 August 2023
Merger of	Religious Zionist Party The Jewish Home
Ideology	Religious Zionism Religious conservatism Social conservatism
Political position	Far-right[1]
Religion	Orthodox Judaism
Colours	Dark blue   Lime green   Light blue
Knesset	7 / 120
Election symbol
טב‎ ط ب‎
Website
https://zionutdatit.org.il/
Politics of Israel Political parties Elections

Background

Bezalel Smotrich defeated Uri Ariel in the Tkuma leadership election in January 2019.^[2]

After difficult negotiations, Tkuma, The Jewish Home, and Otzma Yehudit reached a deal to run in the April 2019 election as the Union of Right-Wing Parties (winning five seats in the Knesset). In June 2019, Otzma Yehudit accused The Jewish Home leader Rafi Peretz of reneging on their pre-election agreement (in which any MKs appointed to the government were to resign their seat, allowing for Otzma Yehudit candidate Itamar Ben-Gvir to become an MK). Otzma left the alliance.^[3] The New Right (founded by Naftali Bennett and Ayelet Shaked after splitting from The Jewish Home in December 2018) had failed to pass the electoral threshold in the April 2019 election.^[4] Ahead of the September 2019 Israeli legislative election, The Jewish Home and Tkuma (running as the United Right) allied with the New Right,^[5] and called their joint list Yamina.^[6] Despite Otzma and The Jewish Home initially agreeing to run on a joint list called the United Jewish Home in preparation for the 2020 Israeli legislative election,^[7] Yamina was reformed, with Otzma Yehudit once again being left out.^[8]

Smotrich rebranded his party from National Union-Tkuma to the Religious Zionist Party on 7 January 2021.^[9] The following month, RZP, Otzma Yehudit, and Noam formed an electoral alliance,^[10] with all three parties winning six seats in the 2021 election on a joint list.^[11] The three parties ran together again in the 2022 election, with the RZP winning seven seats, Otzma Yehudit winning six seats, and Noam keeping its single seat.^[12]

Hagit Moshe was elected head of The Jewish Home on 19 January 2021 by the parties' Central Committee, replacing Peretz.^[13] After failed negotiations with the RZP for the 2021 election, Moshe announced that the party would not run in the election, and instead supported Yamina^[14] and allowed them to use "ב", the traditional symbol of Mafdal and The Jewish Home.^[15] Shaked ended the brief alliance she had with Yoaz Hendel (called Zionist Spirit) prior to the 2022 election,^[16] reportedly over Hendel's unwillingness to serve alongside Benjamin Netanyahu in government,^[17] and instead headed the Yamina slate^[18] that ran under The Jewish Home name in the 2022 election.^[19] The Jewish Home did not clear the electoral threshold, and was left out of the Knesset.^[20]

There were ongoing talks between Moshe and Smotrich going back as far as May 2023 discussing a joint run.^[21] In August 2023 the parties announced that they were to unite under the name The National Religious Party — Religious Zionism, with Smotrich serving as the head of the united party.^[22] The Jewish Home central committee voted to dissolve the party on 20 August 2023.^[23]

Ideology

The National Religious Party–Religious Zionism supports strengthening Israel's Jewish religious identity and also supports increased funding for Torah study and religious education.^[24]

• Religious Zionism: Belief that the Jewish national revival is both a religious and political mission, rooted in the Torah and fulfilled through the establishment and development of the State of Israel.

• Orthodox Judaism: The party adheres to Orthodox Jewish principles and seeks to integrate them into Israeli governance and society.

• Social & Religious Conservatism: It promotes traditional family values, religious education, and a conservative social agenda.

• Far-right Nationalism: Advocates for Jewish settlement across all parts of the Land of Israel, including contested territories, and supports the concept of a “Greater Israel”

Local elections

The merger was expected to give the former Religious Zionist Party a foothold at the municipal level, while The Jewish Home would have been able to wield some power after not gaining any seats in the 2022 Israeli legislative election.^[25]

Moshe, the former head of The Jewish Home, led the party's Jerusalem list ahead of the 2024 Israeli municipal elections.^[26] The election was originally set to take place on 30 October 2023, but on 23 October, the Knesset pushed back the date until 30 January 2024, as a result of the Gaza war.^[27] The election was pushed back again on 31 December to 27 February.^[28] The party won two seats in the election.^[29]

Knesset members

Knesset term	Seats	Members
2022–	6	Ofir Sofer, Orit Strook, Simcha Rothman, Michal Waldiger, Ohad Tal, Moshe Solomon, Zvi Sukkot[a][30][b][30]

Notes

1. Resigned in January 2025 after Otzma Yehudit left the government and Amihai Eliyahu returned to the Knesset
2. Sukkot returned to the Knesset in April 2025 as a replacement for Otzma Yehudit MK Almog Cohen