Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday evening called on Itamar Ben Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich to unite ahead of the elections and announced that he intends to summon the two in the coming days in an effort to bring about an alliance between them.
“They have to unite. Every time we ran together, we won. When we ran separately, we lost," Netanyahu said, warning of a situation in which a split among the right-wing parties could lead to wasted votes.
Netanyahu referred back to the 1992 elections and argued that the right also had an advantage in the number of votes at the time, but that the fragmentation among the parties resulted in defeat. “In ’92, the right, as it does today, had more votes than the left, but because there were three parties that did not cross the electoral threshold, we lost to the left," he said.
The Prime Minister linked the results of those elections to the diplomatic developments that followed. “We got the Oslo disaster, Arafat here, Hamas here, and everything else has been a disaster, continuing disasters."
He warned that a scenario in which votes are lost because of a split could recur in the upcoming elections. “And therefore, it could happen this time as well. Every time we ran together, we won. Every time we ran separately, we lost," Netanyahu added.
Referring to the relationship between Ben Gvir and Smotrich, the Prime Minister said he was aware of the personal disagreements between the two but believed they must overcome them.
“I understand that there is personal bad blood between them. They need to overcome it," he said.
Netanyahu announced that he would personally work to promote an alliance. “I will invite them in the coming days. We will make every possible effort to unite."
According to Netanyahu, an alliance between the two is also what the camp’s voters are demanding. “That is what the public expects of them, and rightly so."
Ben-Gvir responded to Netanyahu, claiming that in the conversations the two had in recent weeks, the prime minister presented him with a different position than the one he is now presenting publicly.
"Mr. Prime Minister, I did not understand your video," Ben-Gvir began his response. He reiterated his claim that Netanyahu seeks to weaken Otzma Yehudit in order to enable the formation of a broad government with Yeshar Party Chairman Gadi Eisenkot.
"The attempt to weaken Otzma Yehudit in order to form a broad national government with Eisenkot is neither right-wing nor national," Ben-Gvir wrote. According to him, the data in the hands of the two actually indicates that a connection between Otzma Yehudit and religious Zionism could lead to a loss of votes.
Ben Gvir claimed that the issue also came up in recent conversations with Netanyahu, "You are as familiar with the data and in-depth studies as I am. We have spoken several times in recent weeks."
He said, "According to all the polls, a combination of me and Smotrich takes away from Otzma Yehudit 3-4 seats that will not come to vote, and the right-wing government will fall." Ben-Gvir was not satisfied with this and revealed, he claimed, a position that Netanyahu himself expressed in closed talks between them.
"You told me yourself that the perfect scenario for taking advantage of the votes is Winter and Smotrich running together - because according to you, Winter doesn't bring any votes from the undecided," Ben Gvir wrote.