Two neighbors, four seats, and the one that decides Israel's next government - analysis

Chili Tropper and Yoaz Hendel, neighbors in the Judean Hills moshav of Ness Harim, may hold the four seats that determine Israel's next prime minister. Their party, Bayit Tzioni - HaMiluimnikim, crossed the electoral threshold for the first time, giving the anti-Netanyahu bloc 60 seats without Arab parties, one short of a majority.

Chili Tropper and Yoaz Hendel, neighbors in the Judean Hills moshav of Ness Harim, may hold the four seats that determine Israel's next prime minister. Their party, Bayit Tzioni - HaMiluimnikim (the Reservists' Zionist Home), crossed the electoral threshold for the first time in a Channel 12 poll, giving the anti-Netanyahu bloc 60 seats without the Arab parties, one short of a majority. Tropper, a former culture and science minister, is known for donating a kidney to a stranger and fostering a haredi teenager. Hendel, a former naval commando and communications minister, raised a reserve battalion after October 7. The party's origins lie in their two-decade-long discussions on religious-secular coexistence on their shared hillside.

Two neighbors, four seats, and the one that decides Israel's next government - analysis