Likud will pay the price: Netanyahu's contingency plan to save Smotrich revealed

Netanyahu is formulating an emergency plan to save Smotrich from the threat posed by Vinter and Hadad, using Likud's reserved slots at the expense of primary election winners. Meanwhile, contacts are underway with Moshe Kahlon and Avi Dichter. Likud fears that the alliance between Vinter and Hadad will bring their list closer to the electoral threshold and complicate a merger with Smotrich.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is formulating a contingency plan to save the Religious Zionism party led by Bezalel Smotrich, which faces political obliteration due to the threat from Ofer Vinter and Yosef Hadad. According to a report in Ma'ariv, Netanyahu plans to use eight reserved slots at his disposal in Likud to assist Smotrich, at the expense of candidates elected in the primaries. Simultaneously, Netanyahu is promoting Avi Dichter and holding talks with Moshe Kahlon. Likud is closely monitoring the threat's development: the concern is that an alliance between Vinter and Hadad, who has public exposure and a supporter base, will bring the new list closer to the electoral threshold and make it harder to persuade Vinter to drop out. In such a scenario, Vinter and his associates may insist on running to the end, pushing away the possibility of a later merger with Smotrich. The issue of reserved slots is becoming Netanyahu's next political test: on one hand, he seeks to strengthen the Likud list and reduce the risk of losing votes in the bloc; on the other hand, any new candidate placed high will push back already-elected candidates, and any slot moved backward could determine whether they serve in the next Knesset.