Saar and Huldai in the race for obtaining guarantees for loans to finance the election

The guarantees are usually received from businessmen and company owners, a move that by its nature creates a controversial connection between the political actors and the stakeholders who provided funds that allowed them to be elected to the Knesset. In addition, some of the parties intend to raise donations with mass funding, but this is a more complex way of raising large sums since the law limits the amount that can be raised from a single donor to only NIS 2,300.

Of all these, the economic situation of Saar’s party is the best. As a new party, it will receive a loan of a maximum of NIS 9.7 million from the Knesset, subject to bank guarantees, while at the same time it is guaranteed a sum of NIS 6.5 million, which will be brought in by Knesset members Zvi Hauser and Yoaz Handel from the Derech Eretz faction. Saar is not expected to face many difficulties in raising guarantees, as recent polls predict his party has 18 seats in the upcoming elections – a number of seats that will entitle his party to party funding that will allow him to easily repay the loan to the Knesset, without having to forfeit guarantees.

It is difficult to estimate where Saar will raise the guarantee money for the upcoming elections, but an examination of the contributions he raised as part of his candidacy in the Likud leadership primaries held a year ago provides a possible glimpse into the identity of the donors.

In preparation for his candidacy for the Likud presidency with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Saar managed to raise 91 donations totaling NIS 2 million, of which 41 were donations from abroad. His donors at the time included Yossi Sagol, a former controlling shareholder in Keter Plastic, who donated to him. NIS 35,000; Australian businessman Albert Dadon (NIS 35,000); Elul Technologies chairman David Kolitz (NIS 25,000); And Neri Haimov, one of the owners of a chain of lighting warehouses (NIS 10,000).

The dowry brought by the pair of MKs from Derech Eretz to Saar is based on the election funding given by the Knesset to the parties that served in the outgoing Knesset. Elections The faction was entitled to increase the loan it took from the Knesset by another NIS 800,000, but did not do so.

If New Hope does win 18 seats, it will receive NIS 26 million in election funding from the Knesset, as well as current party funding of NIS 1.66 million a month throughout the next Knesset. This amount is expected to cover the election budget of Saar’s party, which is estimated at NIS 25 million.

The Israeli party of Huldai and Nissenkorn, which left the blue and white ranks in its favor, is also not expected to have difficulty raising the guarantees required for a loan from the Knesset. In the last Tel Aviv mayoral election in 2018, Huldai raised 232 donations with a total of NIS 515,000.

The amount of a single donation was limited to NIS 2,300 and among the donors to Huldai were several well-known businessmen, including Alprakadakirov, one of the controlling owners of Alrov Real Estate; the owners of the Eliyahu Insurance Company, Shlomo Eliyahu; Dan Hotels; Zvi Livnat, from the Transportation Group; businessman Yigal Ahuvi; CPA Yitzhak Suari; Former Cardan Real Estate Chairman Eitan Soroka; Owners of the Madness Insurance Company Madness Markets; Yoram Petrushka, father of Orni Petrushka, owner of Chromatis; Modi Ben Shach, who previously served in management positions at the Paz Group; Samuel Frenkel, of Epsilon; Former President of the Association of Chambers of Commerce and former Ambassador of Israel to the UN, Dan Gillerman; Former Director General of the Ministry of Finance, Shalom Singer; And Adv. Muriel Matalon from the law firm of Adv. Gornitzky & Co., Navot Tel Tzur and Michael Zellermeir.

The latest polls give the Israeli party about 8 seats, which will entitle it to election funding of NIS 12.5 million and current party funding of NIS 750,000. According to estimates, the party’s campaign is based on a budget of NIS 15 million, which will be updated up or down depending on the results of the polls. The political system estimates that it is possible that at the last minute the Israeli party will unite with Yesh Atid to run on a joint list. In such a situation, each of the parties will receive post-election funding after the election according to the number of seats on the joint list.

Another assessment is that if the Israelis do run in the election alone and after the election Huldai does not win a key position, then he will remain in his current position as mayor of Tel Aviv and Nissenkorn, former chairman of the Histadrut, will succeed him as party chairman. In any case, Huldai will have a period of two weeks between Election Day and the date of the inauguration of the Knesset in order to choose between serving in the Knesset and continuing his term as mayor of Tel Aviv.

MK Shelach, who is currently running for Knesset on the list of independents, intends to raise funds from the public to fund the election campaign, possibly through a mass funding channel. According to estimates, Shelach will eventually join one of the other parties in the center-left bloc – Israelis, Meretz or Labor At the same time, Calcalist has learned that Yaron Zelicha has recently started raising donations and guarantees needed to run a campaign. Zelicha intends to provide personal guarantees and operate at the same time through a mass funding channel. Zelicha’s party stated that ” The state as required. “

On the eve of the 2021 election, 20 parties owe the Knesset 200 million due to loans they took out on the eve of the previous election campaigns to finance their campaigns. In many cases, the parties running in the elections retain their power or fall in the number of seats, and are left with high debts to the Knesset, which they pay during the next term at the expense of reducing current activity. In the past, there were cases in which parties took loans from the Knesset, but their representatives failed to pass the blocking percentage and the Knesset was left with a lost debt. These cases include the green movement of Stav Sapir and the Independence Party founded by Ehud Barak, whose representatives did not run in the last election and remained outside the Knesset, each owed NIS 4 million to the Knesset.

The parties running in the Knesset are constantly changing their campaign budgets according to their situation in the polls. In the last two weeks, the incumbent parties in the current Knesset have increased the amount of credit they have taken from the Knesset by 15%, while utilizing the framework set for them for the entire duration of the candidacy. On the eve of the dissolution of the Knesset, the parties’ aggregate loans from the Knesset amounted to NIS 173 million.

The Likud, whose debts to the Knesset stand at NIS 64 million, is expected to run the aggressive and expensive campaign among the competing parties. It is estimated that the campaign budget will be based on the election funding and the current monthly funding that the party will receive after the election. According to estimates in the last election, the Likud’s campaign amounted to NIS 80 million. Last week, the Likud’s partner in the last blue-and-white party took out a NIS 10 million loan from the Knesset, which set the total amount of credit it took from the Knesset at NIS 25 million. However, in light of the polls predicting Bnei Gantz’s scholarship dropping to 4 seats, there is concern that it will not pass the blocking percentage and an obligation to the Knesset will become a lost debt.

Yair Lapid’s Yesh Atid party has increased its debt to the Knesset by NIS 6 million in the past two weeks, bringing its total debt to NIS 21.2 million. Polls predict that Yesh Atid has 14 seats, which will allow it to spread the loan repayment over the next Knesset. According to estimates, Yesh Atid’s campaign budget will be NIS 20-25 million. TLM, headed by Moshe (Boogie) Ya’alon, recently increased its debt to the Knesset by NIS 5.5 million to NIS 9.5 million, and it is currently unclear whether it will run in the upcoming elections together with Yesh Atid.

Yisrael Beiteinu, headed by former Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman, recently borrowed NIS 6 million from the Knesset, and its debt to the Knesset now stands at NIS 11.3 million. According to estimates, the campaign budget of the party that branded itself as Libra in the previous election campaigns will now stand at about NIS 10 million.

At the far left of the map the concerns are much greater. The Labor Party has a debt of NIS 8.7 million to the Knesset, and it is trying to find a political partner with whom it will face the Knesset after the polls predict that it alone will not be able to pass the blocking percentage and will stay out of the Knesset. So far, Huldai and Nissenkorn have not responded to the workers’ proposals for a joint run, and the party is expected to try again to run jointly with Meretz, which is also looking for a political connection in the face of shuffling in polls that give it 4-5 seats. Meretz itself owes NIS 7.1 million to the Knesset.

While Labor and Meretz are deaf to their political future, their partner in running in the last election Minister of Community Advancement and Gesher chairman Orly Levy-Aboksis laughs all the way to the polls. The bridge itself has a debt to the Knesset in the amount of NIS 1.5 million.