Netanyahu drives right‑wing party merger and Likud primary overhaul ahead of elections

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is intensifying efforts to reshape Israel's right‑wing bloc before the upcoming national elections. His team is negotiating a joint list for the hard‑line Otzma Yehudit party and the Religious Zionist party, seeking to bring together leaders Itamar Ben Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich. Netanyahu hopes the merger will prevent vote splitting, bolster the right‑wing bloc, and improve his chances of forming the next government, although Ben Gvir has so far resisted.

Concurrently, the Likud party’s constitutional committee approved a new primary system that allocates eight personal slots to Netanyahu among the top 33 list positions. The reform reserves 24 nationwide seats, including six for women, and bars current and former ministers, deputy ministers and Knesset members from running in district primaries, except in the non‑Jewish sector. It also grants Netanyahu special authority to form a security‑response committee should a civil‑defence restriction be imposed. The changes faced criticism from Knesset members such as David Bitan, who warned they could fracture the party.