Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu understands the risk facing the Religious Zionism party and is weighing action. If unity efforts among the national-religious camp fail and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s party ends up in the danger zone near the electoral threshold, Netanyahu’s circle isn’t ruling out a technical bloc with Religious Zionism to save its mandates. This scenario is also one of the main reasons Netanyahu hasn’t yet used all his reserved Knesset seats.
Netanyahu’s circle examined the move over the past weekend in case efforts to unite Smotrich, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, MK Zvi Sukkot, and others collapse. If that happens, the Likud is seriously considering forming a technical bloc with Religious Zionism—assuming the party hovers near the threshold.
The understanding is that Netanyahu may need to use some of his reserved spots to protect Smotrich’s people, among others. This is one of the central reasons Netanyahu hasn’t yet announced his reserved spots. In discussions between Netanyahu and his advisers when this proposal was examined, Netanyahu didn’t want it. This is an absolute last resort for him. Meanwhile, Religious Zionism officials are disappointed that Netanyahu isn’t putting more pressure on MK Simcha Rothman. From their perspective, right-wing unity should be broader and include everyone.
In the second bloc, unity between Benny Gantz, Gilad Erdan, and Yuli Edelstein is advancing. So much so that Hezi Nachama plans to leave Sa’ar and Edelstein’s Unity party soon, following the ongoing talks to join Gantz. A connection with Yaron Zelekha is also on the table. Zelekha is currently less relevant in the right-wing bloc, but Gantz, Erdan, and Edelstein are definitely talking with him and about him.