In the Nov. 29 edition of Makor Rishon, the leading newspaper of the religious Zionist movement, editor Haggai Segal published a column under the headline, “Time to resign.” In it, he wrote, “The right cannot wait. Time is against us in a terrifying way … [Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s] enemies have already succeeded in defeating him, so if he doesn’t want them to defeat the entire right, he has no choice but to surrender, instead of dragging us into a new election.”
Segal is a leading opinion shaper among the religious Zionist stream and settlers. Now, even he is joining a growing number of people in that camp, who believe that despite their unreserved support for Netanyahu, given the current political situation, he must give up his position so that the right-wing bloc can form a new government.