The Japan Times - Netanyahu party in uproar as far-right refuses pleas to unite

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, who recently drew international condemnation for saying Israel should kill "30 to 40" Palestinians nightly in Gaza, has rejected Netanyahu's pleas to join forces with Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.

"What does Ben Gvir want? A broad national government led by Prime Minister Netanyahu... or because of personal considerations, to burn right-wing votes in order to put a left-wing government in power?" the Likud's official account wrote on X.

Netanyahu's calls for unity among his hard-right allies ahead of the October 27 vote come amid a surge in the polls for a new far-right party outside his coalition, founded by former general Ofer Winter.

Analysts say Winter's rising star could siphon votes from Smotrich's base, potentially preventing his Religious Zionism party from clearing the electoral threshold of 3.25 percent unless it joins a list with another party.

Winter, himself from the religious right, has been a vocal critic of the governing coalition, which relies on ultra-Orthodox parties, for allowing men of that community to avoid military service.

In a video posted on X on Thursday night, Netanyahu said Smotrich and Ben Gvir "must unite. Every time we ran united, we won. When we ran separately, we lost."

"In 1992, the Right had more votes than the Left, like today, but because we were running separately, we got the disaster of Oslo, Arafat, Hamas and recurring catastrophes," he said, referring to the peace process launched with the 1993 Oslo Accords between slain centre-left Israeli premier Yitzhak Rabin and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.

Smotrich appeared receptive to the proposal. "It's time for unity and responsibility in the national camp," he wrote on X Thursday evening.

On Friday morning, Netanyahu invited Ben Gvir and Smotrich to a meeting on Sunday. "We must not waste a single vote; we must unite to save the right-wing bloc!" he wrote on X.

But Ben Gvir accused Netanyahu of seeking to weaken his right-wing populist Jewish Power party, which consistently polls at around seven to eight parliamentary seats -- comfortably above the threshold.

"According to all polls, a joint run between me and Smotrich would set Jewish Power back by three to four parliament seats," Ben Gvir wrote on X.

Both ultranationalist parties, once shunned by mainstream politicians, have been keen to maintain independence, allowing them to be kingmakers and to promote uncompromising positions rather than follow the lead of the historically secular Likud.

Ben Gvir suggested Netanyahu instead push for a joint slate between Winter and Smotrich.

Smotrich and Ben Gvir have run together twice before. Their joint list won six seats in 2021, then doubled its tally to 14 in the 2022 election that produced the current parliament, before splitting into Smotrich's Religious Zionism and Ben Gvir's Jewish Power, with seven seats each.

K.Inoue--JT