Ahead of the Knesset’s expected dissolution next week and general elections in October, Yoaz Hendel’s Reservists party announced Tuesday it would join forces with former Blue and White MK Chili Tropper as well as bereaved family members Shira Shapiro and Elyasaf Peretz.

Channel 12 news reported the alliance will be called Yesodot Yisrael (Foundations of Israel), with the agreement putting Tropper at the top of the joint list and Hendel at No. 2. The following spots on the electoral slate will reportedly be selected by the two of them in alternating order.

The network said Hendel and Tropper want to join a broad Zionist government, but if they cannot broker one, they would agree to join a government made up of parties opposed to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as long as no Arab-majority parties are included.

Separately, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s far-right Religious Zionism party announced it would hold primaries on July 26 to determine its slate for the next election, which must take place by October 27.

Hendel, a former communications minister who was once an aide to Netanyahu, is one of several right-leaning figures who have criticized the government’s bid to codify the Haredi exemption from military service, but who do not rule out governing with the premier.

Polls have shown Hendel’s party falling short of the electoral threshold if it runs on its own, but possibly entering the Knesset — and serving as kingmaker — if it teams up with similarly minded figures.

At a joint press conference with Hendel on Tuesday night, Tropper said the two “are setting up a Zionist home. A home for Israelis who are full of pain and hope, who want to work together to make things better here. A home that will not be torn apart from within. A home in which everybody will serve.”

Hendel said he and Tropper “understand that a new generation of leaders is needed — a generation of warriors, a generation that takes responsibility.”

“Chili and I are committed to [taking] responsibility,” he said. “This country is on our shoulders. At a time when everybody is fleeing responsibility, we are responsible.”

Hendel’s party had said in an earlier statement that teaming up with Tropper is “the first step toward creating a significant new Zionist political force” that seeks to “lead to a broad Zionist government” and represent “those who serve, volunteer, fight, perform reserve duty and contribute........

© The Times of Israel