JERUSALEM, Jan. 13 (JTA) — A new, secular, centrist party believed to be affiliated with Tel Aviv Mayor Roni Milo has announced its intentions to run in the next general elections. The party, calling itself Atid, Hebrew for future, submitted founding papers to the political party registrar this week. Milo, a member of the Likud Party, did not appear among the 140 people signed on to the party’s founding paper or constitution. However, speculation that Milo might run as the party’s prime ministerial candidate in the next general elections against his current Likud colleague, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, swirled around the party’s well-publicized founding. The Tel Aviv mayor, a relative moderate, was among a group of senior Likud members who have been very critical of Netanyahu’s leadership. At a conference of mayors this week, Milo did not rule out any future association with Atid. “It is true that to date I am not a member of the new, centrist Atid,” he said. “What will be in the future, only ‘the future’ knows.” The new party’s constitution contains nine general clauses, which proclaim: * Israel as a democratic state with equal rights for all citizens; * The importance of law and freedom of conscience and of the individual; * Deepening the link between the Israeli people and the homeland; * Deepening the ties between the Israeli people and the Jewish Diaspora; * Support for peace, with security; and * Improving the status of impoverished areas. One of the founders of Atid stressed that the new party’s real test would come when it is required to sign 50,000 citizens for Milo’s anticipated candidacy as prime minister — as required by law. By law, final approval of a new political party must come within 45 days.
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