Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's associates have reportedly made a proposal to Otzma Yehudit leader Itamar Ben Gvir whereby Otzma will drop out of the Knesset race, and Netanyahu will work to lower the electoral threshold in the next Knesset.
Yediot Aharonot reported that Netanyahu is investing great efforts to find a solution for Otzma to prevent the waste of thousands of right-wing votes.
According to the reported proposal, the electoral threshold, which was last raised at the request of Yisrael Beytenu with the aim of making it difficult for Arab factions, would be brought up again in the agenda in the new Knesset to make it easier for Ben Gvir to cross it.
However, later on Tuesday morning, Ben Gvir, speaking to Galei Tzahal, denied the report.
"I didn't receive any proposal from the Likud," he said.
Ben Gvir later hit Yediot Aharonot for pushing the story without seeking confirmation from Otzma.
"There are people around Netanyahu who are creating a lot of spin," Ben Gvir wrote on Facebook Tuesday morning. "They know that we aren't buying it, that's why they push it through a newspaper - which sadly didn't even ask for our response."
"Anyone who is imagining that we'll leave the race wants a government with Lapid. The only way for Netanyahu to build a right-wing government is with our four mandates. We're only short by a few thousand votes right now."
At the same time, US President Trump and Netanyahu are holding intensive talks toward the possibility of a dramatic US declaration of a US-Israel defense alliance, or a "deterrence umbrella" declaration that any injury to Israel will constitute an attack on the US, which will be committed to protecting Israel from a future threat.
Another possibility of an election surprise on Trump's part is a dramatic announcement pardoning Jonathan Pollard so he can immigrate to Israel.