Veteran right-wing activist Baruch Marzel issued a public call for unity, saying he is prepared to relinquish his own place in order to help bring the competing factions together.

“Without too many words, we must unite,” Marzel said in a video published Wednesday. “I will give up my place, but let’s unite. Let’s save the Jewish people.”

The appeal comes amid a renewed confrontation between Marzel and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir over Otzma Yehudit, a movement with which both men have been closely associated. Just a day earlier, Marzel publicly accused Ben Gvir of abandoning the movement’s original ideological direction and sidelining its longtime leadership.

The dispute has deep roots. Marzel was one of Otzma Yehudit’s prominent figures for years and represented the party on Eli Yishai’s Yachad slate in the 2015 election. He has previously accused Ben Gvir of moving away from the movement’s ideology and argued that the party belongs to its original leadership rather than to Ben Gvir personally.

Marzel has stepped aside for political unity before. Otzma Yehudit’s own biography of Marzel says that ahead of the 2009 election, he relinquished his place in favor of Michael Ben Ari, who subsequently entered the Knesset on the National Union slate.

 

 

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