HaTikva (Political Party)

HaTikva’s name means “The Hope.” The Jewish Virtual Library identifies it as a secular, far-right party headed by Aryeh Eldad and as one of the factions of the National Union, although the page credits its account to Wikipedia.[1] An INSS election primer characterized the National Union as a “union of the small, radical right parties Moledet, Hatikva, and Tkuma.”[2] Because HaTikva contested the 2009 election within that joint list, its electoral performance cannot be separated from the National Union’s four-seat result.[4]

Sources identify two stages in HaTikva’s formation. The Jewish Virtual Library dates the party to 2007, while contemporary reporting records its public electoral launch under Aryeh Eldad in late 2008.[1][3] That launch followed plans by the National Religious Party and the National Union factions Moledet and Tkuma to dissolve and form a new party that became Habayit Hayehudi, or the Jewish Home.[6]

According to Eldad’s account, he objected to the proposed merged party’s religious standards. He asked whether a decorated, patriotic reserve combat pilot who drove on Shabbat could be included on its candidate list; after being told that this would be “a problem,” Eldad concluded that the party was not for him.[6]

On November 4, 2008, Eldad announced that he would contest the election to the 18th Knesset at the head of a right-wing party called HaTikva. He was chosen to lead it on December 9.[3] The Jerusalem Post described the planned party as right-wing and secular, consistent with Eldad’s stated reason for rejecting the religious merger.[6]

HaTikva quickly sought allies on the nationalist right. In December 2008, Moledet left Habayit Hayehudi after its chairman, Benny Elon, was placed at number 17 on the joint candidate list. Moledet said that the placement represented an attempt to erase the faction, and it agreed to contest the approaching election together with HaTikva; Elon announced that he would leave political life.[7] Eldad called the agreement “a first step in reconstituting the National Union with all its components.”[7]

On December 23, 2008, a Knesset committee approved Moledet and HaTikva running under the name “National Union” and made their separation from Habayit Hayehudi official.[8] Five days later, HaTikva joined an expanded National Union–Moledet list with Tkuma and Eretz Yisrael Shelanu. Eldad was placed third on the list.[3]

The National Union won four seats in the February 2009 election. Eldad entered the 18th Knesset alongside Yaakov Katz, Uri Yehuda Ariel, and Michael Ben-Ari.[4][3] These were seats won by the alliance as a whole; the sources do not report a separate vote or seat total for HaTikva.

HaTikva remained represented within the National Union during the 18th Knesset through Eldad. Near the end of the Knesset’s term, Eldad and his party left the alliance and joined Michael Ben-Ari in establishing a separate electoral movement.[3]

On November 13, 2012, Eldad and Ben-Ari announced the formation of Otzma LeYisrael, or Strong Israel, with Eldad heading its candidate list and Ben-Ari placed second.[5] The Jewish Virtual Library likewise describes HaTikva and Eretz Yisrael Shelanu as leaving the National Union to form Otzma LeYisrael and gives November 13, 2012, as the successor party’s establishment date.[1][9]

Otzma LeYisrael failed to pass the electoral threshold in the January 2013 election and won no seats.[9] That result belonged to HaTikva’s successor organization rather than to a separately competing HaTikva list.

HaTikva provided Eldad with a secular political vehicle outside the proposed religious-party merger and then participated in the reconstruction of the National Union before the 2009 election.[6][7] Its parliamentary presence was tied to Eldad’s third-place position on the joint list and to the National Union’s four-seat result rather than to independent electoral strength.[3][4]

Organizationally, HaTikva also formed part of the transition from the 2009 National Union alliance to Otzma LeYisrael in 2012. The sources connect the organizations through Eldad and the departing factions but identify HaTikva and Otzma LeYisrael as distinct stages and party names.[1][5]

Political descriptions of HaTikva vary in wording and provenance. The Jewish Virtual Library calls it secular and far-right but credits its account to Wikipedia, while the INSS primer included it among the National Union’s “small, radical right parties.”[1][2]

The December 2008 split also produced competing partisan accounts. Moledet said that Benny Elon’s placement at number 17 sought to erase the faction. Jewish Home public council member Asher Cohen responded that efforts had been made to prevent the split and include representatives from across religious Zionism, while criticizing factions he believed were unwilling to compromise.[7]

HaTikva and Otzma LeYisrael should not be treated as interchangeable names. The former participated in the 2009 National Union list, whereas the latter was established in November 2012 and failed to win seats in the 2013 election.[4][9]