Shelach will be forming the new party together with Ron Cohen, chair of the organization for independent business owners. Rumor has it that Ron Huldai, currently mayor of Tel Aviv, and Avi Nissenkorn, currently Justice Minister, will join this party running for Knesset. The new party will be called something like Mifleget HaAtzmaim - the Freelancers Party. While I know nothing about their plans, just from the context it seems like one of their major issues will be to improve the situation of freelancers in Israel, which is highly taxed with minimal benefits.
The one thing I heard Shelach say about this is that it is time to cooperate with the Haredi parties and not fight with them, and he plans to rebuild the relationship of our side of the political map with the Haredi parties.
Benjamin Netanyahu once said he doesn't get involved in how the Left divides up its seats. Someone once compared the Left to the Titanic saying that like on the Titanic they shuffled the deck chairs while it was sinking, the Left shuffles its seats and votes while continuing to shrink its voter base.
Both the Right and the Left are enjoying the early portion of the latest election season by dividing up into more parties. On the Right we have Gideon Saar breaking off from the Likud and forming a party, and on the Center and Left the changes are just beginning - nobody knows what will be with Kachol Lavan, Shelach now left Yesh Atid, Labor is starting back up again though Amir Peretz is abandoning it, the Joint List Arab party looks like it is set to break up into at least two parties, and it is likely that there is more to come.
With polls showing the right parties bringing in upwards of 75-80 seats in the coming elections, the divisions in the Left are almost meaningless. None of them, except maybe one, are going to attract new voters. they are basically just shuffling the deck chairs. As of now, I think, only Ofer Shelach's new party has a chance of attracting new voters, because the issue of the freelancers is such a big one. If Shelach and his people really take that issue on and focus on it, it has the chance of attracting voters from the Right. Voters from the Right who want the issue of freelancers dealt with might vote for him, but only if that si really his issue of interest. If they feel he just brought them in to then focus on other issues such as the Palestinians and whatnot, they won't support him. If he focuses on the freelancers issue as his main thing, he has a chance.
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