TPC Staff
The Palestine Chronicle / August 28, 2026
Netanyahu’s right-wing bloc faces growing electoral pressure after Ben-Gvir rejected an alliance with Smotrich, whose party risks disappearing from parliament entirely.
Ben-Gvir rejects Netanyahu’s appeal
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s efforts to consolidate the far right ahead of the October 27 election suffered a setback Friday after National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir rejected his call for an electoral alliance with Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.
Netanyahu publicly invited Ben-Gvir and Smotrich to meet Sunday to discuss forming a joint electoral list between their respective Otzma Yehudit and Religious Zionism parties.
“No vote can go to waste; the parties must unite in order to save the right-wing bloc!” Netanyahu said, according to the Times of Israel.
Ben-Gvir’s party reportedly rejected the proposal almost immediately, saying its decision to run separately was “final and complete” and would “not be changed under any circumstances.”
“Accordingly, there will be no talks, or meetings, or discussions on the topic, not directly, and not indirectly,” Otzma Yehudit said.
Ben-Gvir instead proposed that smaller right-wing parties unite among themselves or that Netanyahu incorporate Smotrich into Likud’s electoral list, according to the report.
The dispute has become increasingly bitter. Ben-Gvir accused Netanyahu of wanting to weaken his party so the prime minister could ultimately establish a broader government with leading opposition figure Gadi Eisenkot.
Netanyahu rejected the accusation and warned Ben-Gvir: “Don’t bring down the right.”
‘Get over your personal ego’
Likud responded Friday with an unusually sharp attack on Ben-Gvir, accusing the national security minister of jeopardizing Netanyahu’s chances of returning to power.
“By deciding to burn tens of thousands of right-wing votes and not unite with Smotrich, Ben-Gvir has decided today to enthrone a left-wing government of Gadi Eisenkot, Avigdor Lieberman, Yair Golan, and the Arab parties,” Likud said, according to Anadolu news agency.
Netanyahu’s party explicitly linked the electoral dispute to its illegal settlement policies in the occupied West Bank, asking whether Ben-Gvir wanted a government that would continue what it called the “historic momentum we achieved in settlement in Judea and Samaria over the past four years.”
Likud claimed that an opposition government would “establish a Palestinian state” and “capitulate to every international dictate.”
“They will evict you from your home, Itamar,” Likud said, referring to Ben-Gvir’s residence in the illegal Israeli settlement of Kiryat Arba near Hebron (Al-Khalil).
“Overcome the personal ego,” the party added. “Show maturity and responsibility.”
The confrontation echoes the period preceding Israel’s 2022 election, when Netanyahu personally intervened to broker a technical alliance between Ben-Gvir and Smotrich. Their joint list ultimately won 14 Knesset seats before splitting into separate factions following the election.
Ben-Gvir has insisted since June that such an arrangement will not be repeated.
Polls threaten Netanyahu’s path to power
Netanyahu’s intervention comes amid polling indicating that fragmentation among Israel’s far-right parties could prevent his bloc from securing the 61 seats required to govern.
Israel’s proportional representation system requires parties to receive at least 3.25 percent of the national vote to enter the 120-seat Knesset. Votes cast for parties that fail to reach that threshold effectively produce no parliamentary seats.
A Zman Yisrael poll published Thursday projected Eisenkot’s Yashar as the largest party with 26 seats, ahead of Likud with 22.
The poll gave Ben-Gvir’s Otzma Yehudit six seats but placed Smotrich’s Religious Zionism below the electoral threshold. Another poll published Friday by Maariv similarly projected that Smotrich would fail to enter parliament, while putting Ben-Gvir’s party at nine seats.
Netanyahu is also confronting a new challenge from former Israeli military general Ofer Winter, who launched his People of Israel party this week.
Winter has pledged to support Netanyahu for prime minister, but polling indicates his party is drawing much of its support from Netanyahu’s existing political camp.
One survey found that 69 percent of respondents considering voting for Winter came from the pro-Netanyahu bloc, with significant support drawn from Likud, Religious Zionism and Otzma Yehudit.
The Zman Yisrael poll projected Winter winning six seats while the overall pro-Netanyahu bloc secured only 51. Anti-Netanyahu Zionist parties received a combined 58 seats, leaving Palestinian parties holding the remaining 11 and potentially playing a decisive role in coalition arithmetic.
The October 27 election is considered critical for Netanyahu, whose government has been widely described as the most right-wing in Israeli history.
Netanyahu continues to face an ongoing corruption trial involving charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust, which he denies.
He is also wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC), which issued an arrest warrant against him over war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Gaza.
(TPC, AA, The Times of Israel)
