Surprise Candidates Fill Knesset Lists: From Socialist Millionaires to Olympians
An in-depth look at the candidate lists for the upcoming Knesset reveals surprising figures, including a socialist millionaire, Yigal Amir's relatives, Olympic athletes, and cultural icons.
Under the Parties Law, "one hundred or more persons who are adult Israeli citizens and residents are permitted to establish a party by registering it in the Parties Register." A deeper look into the candidate lists running for the upcoming Knesset reveals, alongside familiar politicians, quite a few surprising names: from a socialist millionaire and the wife of Yigal Amir, to Olympic athletes and a theater actress. Here are some of the candidates hidden deep within the lists.
Among the candidates is Avi Shaked, a businessman and entrepreneur who has frequently described himself as a "socialist millionaire" and even ran with this slogan in the Labor primaries. He ran twice for the leadership of the Labor Party in the primary elections of 2021 and 2024. In the late 1990s, Shaked co-founded an online gambling company with his brother. Additionally, he was a member of the Israeli team behind the Geneva Initiative, an organization established in 2003 to promote peace between Israel and the Palestinians, which drafted a document considered the most detailed agreement between the parties to date. Today, Shaked heads a Jewish-Arab party named "Beyachad Hatzliach" (Together We Will Succeed).
Surprising Names and Unusual Lists
Additional candidates include Geula Amir, the mother of Yigal Amir—who assassinated Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin—and Larissa Trembovler, Amir's wife. Trembovler is placed in the first spot on the "Mishpat Tzedek" (Justice Trial) list advocating for Yigal Amir, followed by his mother Geula. This is not the first time Trembovler has tried to get elected through this list. In the elections to the 23rd Knesset in March 2020, she headed the list and explicitly stated upon its submission: "We demand a retrial for Yigal Amir." The party also presented judicial reform as one of its goals. In the elections to the 24th Knesset in March 2021, she ran again at the head of the list, which then sought to be named "Mishpat Tzedek, for Judicial Reform and the Release of Yigal Amir," but the Central Election Committee did not approve the words "for the release of Yigal Amir" in the party's name.
Olympic athletes also feature on the lists. Alex Averbuch, former European champion and World Championship silver medalist in the pole vault, was placed 41st on the "Yashar!" list headed by Gadi Eisenkot. Averbuch had been a Likud member since 2019 and announced his departure from the party last August. In a Facebook post he wrote at the time, he noted that "this is a decision I reached after much thought, out of the understanding that at this stage of my professional and public path, my priorities are changing."
In the "Be-Yachad" list led by Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid, another Olympic athlete can be found: Lydia Hatuel-Zuckerman, who at her peak was ranked eighth in the world. Hatuel-Zuckerman, a former fencer, was placed 74th on the list. She represented Israel in three Olympic Games: Los Angeles 1984, Barcelona 1992, and Atlanta 1996—where she headed the delegation and was chosen to carry the flag at the opening ceremony. In an interview four years ago, she said: "I am a Sabra through and through, but also a proud Moroccan."
Cultural Figures and Academics in the Ranks
Author and poet Roni Somak was placed 120th and last on the list. Somak, born in Baghdad, immigrated to Israel in 1953. He grew up and was educated in a ma'abara (transit camp) on the border of Holon and Bat Yam, and later in a neighborhood near Tzahala. When he was 17, he published his first poem. For his poetry, he has won, among others, the Prime Minister's Prize, the Yehuda Amichai Poetry Prize, first prize in the wine poetry competition held at the Struga International Poetry Festival, and many others. In 2012, he was also placed in the final spot on the "Yesh Atid" list, as well as on the party's lists starting from the 19th Knesset until today.
Actress Esti Zakheim is ranked 68th on The Democrats list led by Yair Golan. Zakheim is an Israeli theater, television, and cinema actress who has won two Ophir Awards. She served as the chair of Shacham, the Israeli Actors Organization, from 2016 to 2021. In an interview with ynet about half a year ago, she said that she is "afraid of being Lucy Aharish 2." She spoke about her fear of using words that might anger others: "One misplaced word, one careless sentence, and the poison machine is on you on steroids, pouncing like eagles."
Far down on The Democrats list, in the 95th spot, is author and poet Tlalma Aligon Rose. She is credited with some of the most familiar songs in Hebrew music, including "Eretz Tzvi,Derech Aruka," and "Yaldonet." Aligon Rose also served as an artistic director and producer at the CBS record label, and in 2013 she won the ACUM Lifetime Achievement Award named after Naomi Shemer.
Professor Dan Ariely, a behavioral economics researcher and author of the best-seller "Predictably Irrational," also found himself on a candidate list for the Knesset. Ariely was placed third on the Pirated Party list, which has been running in Israeli elections since 2013 and has never passed the electoral threshold. He even arrived at the list submission at the Election Committee wearing a pirate hat. "We want to appeal to people who do not feel they have a place," he explained. "Those who haven't found themselves a home—let them join us."
Additional points arising from a deep dive into the lists reveal, for instance, that Yoav Segalovitz, who is ranked second in the Ra'am party, is the sole Jew among the 73 candidates on the list—and the first Jew in its history. In addition, the final 13 spots on The Democrats list are allocated as a row of honor for senior figures, former ministers, and former MKs from Labor and Meretz. Among the names can be found Zehava Galon, who served as Meretz chair until the previous elections, Amram Mitzna, Colette Avital, and Ephraim Sene.
