Skip to main content

Israeli season of political mergers in full speed

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is pushing for mergers between small parties, including the ultra-Orthodox parties, to prevent a loss of votes for the right-wing bloc.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli Interior Minister Aryeh Deri are seen at the end of a news conference at the Prime Minister's office in Jerusalem April 2, 2018. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun - RC163EB70890
Read in 

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s advisers have no doubt that, in the end, Israel Resilience, the party of Benny Gantz, the new star of Israeli politics and main rival of Netanyahu, will merge with Yair Lapid’s Yesh Atid. Netanyahu is concerned that such a joint list would get more mandates than the Likud. A Channel 12 poll, for instance, gives a Gantz-Lapid union 35 mandates compared to 30 for Netanyahu and the Likud.

Access the Middle East news and analysis you can trust

Join our community of Middle East readers to experience all of Al-Monitor, including 24/7 news, analyses, memos, reports and newsletters.

Subscribe

Only $100 per year.