As Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu entered the boisterous hall of Kfar Maccabiah hotel on the evening of Dec. 2 to light the first candle of Hanukkah with members of the Likud Central Committee, the task of warming up the audience was put to the loyal hands of Knesset member and chairman of the coalition David Amsalem.

Earlier that day, the police announced that it recommends charging Netanyahu and his wife, Sara, in Case 4000 of various crimes, including bribery, such that the festive event turned into a show of support for the couple. Amsalem met with Netanyahu before the event in order to finalize details and go over the message. Since the resignation of Knesset member David Bitan from the role of chairman of the coalition, Amsalem has become very close with the prime minister.

When he got word that Netanyahu had arrived in the hall, Amsalem called on the audience to greet the prime minister and his wife “with enthusiastic applause and much warmth.” He didn’t have to say it. This is a group that believes that a witch hunt is being conducted against the Netanyahu couple with the aim of changing the regime. It turns out that the prime minister has succeeded more than was thought in convincing Likud supporters that all the investigations have one goal, which is to oust him from power — that is, to oust the Likud. He sowed these seeds in his Hanukkah speech a year ago exactly at the same forum, as criminal investigations of him were branching out.

Now Netanyahu is reaping the fruit, where his strategy is to harness the Likud public as a human shield for any future criminal indictment against him. Netanyahu knew a year ago that the key to his political survival is in the hands of members of the Likud Central Committee and that if he succeeds in harnessing it, then the top of the party and his potential heirs would have to toe the line and back him.