Parties / Unaligned

Unity (HaAchdut) האחדות

MEF poll average, seats

range in window

seats now

Seats in every 2026 poll; line is a five-poll rolling mean; dotted line = threshold

Leader: Gilad Erdan, Party chairman; former minister and ambassador to the UN and US; not a sitting MK. Yuli Edelstein, incumbent MK and former Knesset speaker, is No. 2. [source, 2026-09-03]
Bloc: Unaligned
Founded: Launched 6 August 2026 in Tel Aviv by Erdan and Edelstein, initially unnamed (Times of Israel, https://www.timesofisrael.com/erdan-and-edelstein-unveil-sti...); name 'Unity' announced 11 August 2026 in Beit Shemesh (JPost, https://www.jpost.com/israel-election-2026/article-905229). Website: haachdut.org.il.
Seats, 25th Knesset: 0
Status 2026: Withdrew from the race on 2026-09-04 after merger talks with Blue and White failed and polling stayed far below the threshold; Unity does not appear among the 38 lists filed with the CEC (Jerusalem Post, https://www.jpost.com/israel-election-2026/article-907605, 2026-09-04; Times of Israel, https://www.timesofisrael.com/israels-election-takes-shape-a... 2026-09-08).
List status: No list filed: Gilad Erdan withdrew the party on 2026-09-04.
MEF poll average: (below threshold in most polls); range to across 0 polls in the window

Background

Yuli Edelstein, removed as Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee chairman in July 2025 over his Haredi conscription bill, announced on 3 July 2026 that he was leaving Likud because he 'couldn't defend its agenda' on draft exemptions (Times of Israel, https://www.timesofisrael.com/edelstein-i-left-likud-because...). Gilad Erdan confirmed in May 2026 he was weighing a new party; the two met Gantz, Shaked and Simchi at Edelstein's home on 20 July without agreement on leadership (Ynet, https://www.ynetnews.com/article/s1o0ibanme). They launched the party on 6 August 2026 saying 'Likud no longer represents its voters' and committing to a broad Zionist government and universal service (Times of Israel). Former Beit Shemesh mayor Aliza Bloch joined 10 August, the name Unity and slogan 'Real right. Real enlistment.' followed on 11 August, and judoka Oren Smadja joined 12 August (JPost; Haaretz). Erdan opened merger talks with Gantz on 26 August (Ynet).

Knesset list

No list filed: Gilad Erdan withdrew the party on 2026-09-04.

Platform and positions

Haredi draft	Slogan 'Real right. Real enlistment.'; the party 'has positioned itself as a right-wing party calling for universal IDF conscription' and committed to joining only a broad Zionist government. Edelstein left Likud because he could not campaign for a party backing exemptions: 'What will we do? Continue to allow freeloading?' [source, 2026-09-03]
other	Erdan: 'I am a man of the right, I am not willing to support a government that advances things that contradict my beliefs'; 'Our enemies are Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iran, not the other political side.' He would not boycott parties but requires them to accept the party's principles. Leader statements. [source, 2026-08-28]
security	Party statement on the name: 'Unity is a mobilization of everyone. Unity is shared responsibility.' Erdan to JPost: matters that divided the right in the past, such as a Palestinian state, are no longer at issue after 7 October (paraphrase of a truncated passage; see not_verified). [source, 2026-08-11]
economy	Bloch to JPost: the education system needs better teachers, more authority for principals and more respect for educators; she said Israel 'abandoned' Haredi students. No economic platform document located. [source, 2026-08-25]
judiciary	No published position located. Erdan told Gantz that shared basic principles must precede list placements (N12, 2026-08-28). [source, 2026-08-28]

Recent moves

2026-08-06: Erdan and Edelstein launch the party in Tel Aviv. [source, 2026-08-06]
2026-08-11: Name 'Unity' announced at Beit Shemesh event marking Aliza Bloch joining. [source, 2026-08-11]
2026-08-13: Oren Smadja joins. [source, 2026-08-13]
2026-08-26: Erdan meets Gantz to discuss a merger; party statement calls the meeting positive. [source, 2026-08-26]
2026-08-28: Second meeting at Gantz's home; Erdan confirms talks on 103FM and names Winter, Hendel and Tropper as other possible partners. [source, 2026-08-28]
2026-09-03: Erdan tells JPost the party is weighing alliances to clear the threshold; Edelstein tells Walla a deal with Gantz is more likely than not and that talks with Winter are over. [source, 2026-09-03]
2026-09-04: Gilad Erdan withdraws Unity from the election [source, 2026-09-04]

What MEF has published

No MEF pieces matched in the archive since 2025.

Not verified

haachdut.org.il homepage loaded (title 'Unity led by Gilad Erdan, both real right and real enlistment') but contained no platform text; no platform document located.
Erdan's JPost remarks on the Palestinian state question were truncated in the retrieved snippet; the wording above is a paraphrase to be checked against the article.
Aliza Bloch's Knesset status (JPost calls her MK; other reports call her former mayor).
Whether Unity will file under its own name or a joint name with Blue and White.