Millions of shekels on the way to parties: Election funding advance distribution revealed
Incumbent and new parties are expected to receive about 210 million shekels as advances ahead of the elections. Likud leads with about 46.8 million, alongside tens of millions flowing to the various factions - including those wavering in the polls.
Ahead of the deadline for submitting lists to the Central Elections Committee on September 8, data on election funding and the advances that the various factions will receive are being revealed. The total volume of advances that the Knesset will transfer is estimated at about 210 million shekels, of which about 175 million shekels are intended for the parties serving in the outgoing Knesset and about 35 million shekels are allocated to the new parties.
The total cost of election funding for all factions is estimated at about a quarter of a billion shekels, following the update of the funding unit by law to 1.835 million shekels per Knesset member and the setting of the advance at 80% of it, which is 1.468 million shekels per incumbent Knesset member.
The Likud faction, which holds 32 mandates in the outgoing Knesset, is expected to receive the highest advance of 46.8 million shekels. The Yesh Atid party is expected to take an advance of 35.2 million shekels according to its current 24 mandates. In the event that it wins 15 mandates in practice as some polls show (in a joint list with Bennett), its final entitlement will stand at about 29 million shekels, and it will be required to cover the difference through a loan from the Knesset that will be collateralized from the current party funding in the next term.
The BEYAHAD party led by Naftali Bennett raised guarantees of 33 million shekels before the merger, of which it realized 10 million shekels. At the same time, parties that do not pass the electoral threshold in the latest polls are expected to take the full advance allocated to them by law. HaMahane HaMamlahti is entitled to an advance of 11.7 million shekels and is working simultaneously on fundraising, while the Religious Zionism party is entitled to an advance of 10.2 million shekels. Not passing the electoral threshold in practice raises concerns about the creation of a debt that will not be repaid.
In the sector of new parties, which are entitled to an advance of up to 18.3 million shekels against the presentation of bank guarantees, the Yashar LeYisrael party led by Gadi Eisenkot raised 16.6 million shekels in guarantees and 2 million shekels in donations, while in the polls it stands at 25 mandates (worth about 45.8 million shekels in total funding). The Ami Chai LeAd party led by Ofer Winter, which reaches 6 mandates in the polls, raised guarantees totaling 3.225 million shekels, alongside various loans. The HaAchdut party led by Gilad Erdan raised guarantees of about 3 million shekels, and the HaMiluimnikim party led by Yoaz Hendel and Chili Tropper raised guarantees totaling 1.6 million shekels.
