Likud chairman Binyamin Netanyahu has hired two consultants, Bill Knapp and Josh Isay, who worked with President-elect Barack Obama during his recent campaign. Knesset Member Netanyahu, who is leading in the pre-election polls, previously has relied primarily on consultants to Republican party candidates.

Other Obama advisors, David Fenton and Tom Mazzei, have joined the new affiliation between Meretz and Labor dissidents.