Opposition leader MK Benjamin Netanyahu's office is pressuring MK Bezalel Smotrich, who chairs the Religious Zionism party, and MK Itamar Ben Gvir, who chairs Otzma Yehudit, to reach an agreement in which they will run together in the upcoming elections.
The pressure stems from concerns that if the two parties, which rain together last year, split up, one or both may not pass the electoral threshold, costly the right-wing bloc a significant number of seats. Those close to Netanyahu would like to see the parties finalize their joint run in the coming days.
On Tuesday morning, Smotrich told Galei Israel Radio, "We are, with G-d's help, running together. This partnership has proven itself. We will manage it in a closed room, responsibly. There is one thing that interests us - the responsibility to the State of Israel and to the Right."
"Woe unto us if we wake up to a government of [Prime Minister Yair Lapid and the Joint Arab List."
uBen Gvir said, "I am happy that finally, Bezalel has agreed to meet. I hope that the meeting will not be just to check off that we met. I am coming to sit in the room in order to finalize matters. From my perspective, [I'll stay] until white smoke comes out [of the room] (a Talmudic saying, ed.)."