Israel’s conservative religious political faction Yamina (which means “Right” in Hebrew) announced this week that it was heading to the opposition due to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu preferring a new left-wing approach to governance.

A party statement read: “In light of the composition of the coalition and its apparent policies as a left-wing government headed by Netanyahu, and in light of the gross disrespect of the prime minister toward Yamina and its voters, we will serve the public in the opposition.”

The “gross disrespect” they mention is at least partially in reference to how Netanyahu’s Likud painted Yamina’s refusal to accept the cabinet positions offered to them to join the coalition.

According to the Likud, Yamina party chief Naftali Bennett’s “refusal to accept [Netanyahu’s] generous offer, which hands Yamina all the issues of importance to religious Zionism, exposes the real issue, which is not ideology, but a seat-ology.”

A one-dimensional party?

This idea, that Yamina shouldn’t be demanding “senior cabinet portfolios that have no connection to...