Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu has been working behind the scenes in recent days to broker a renewed alliance between the Religious Zionism and Otzma Yehudit parties in an effort to prevent right-wing votes from being lost below the electoral threshold, according to a report Wednesday evening on Channel 14.

Under the proposal, Netanyahu is offering Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich two guaranteed reserved spots on the Likud list for the next Knesset election in exchange for agreeing to run on a joint slate led by National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.

The initiative is reportedly part of a broader political strategy by Netanyahu, who recently asked senior Likud officials and local party leaders to approve ten reserved slots on the party’s future Knesset list.

According to reports, Netanyahu explained in internal discussions that the reserved positions are necessary to maintain stability within the broader right-wing bloc. One of those slots has already reportedly been promised to Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar as part of political agreements reached with him.

Netanyahu also reportedly emphasized that another reserved position is intended specifically to avoid a repeat of past elections in which right-wing parties failed to cross the electoral threshold, resulting in significant losses for the bloc.

Sources familiar with the talks said Netanyahu described the two guaranteed spots for Smotrich as a political “incentive” aimed at persuading him to show greater flexibility and move toward reunification with Ben-Gvir.

According to the emerging framework being discussed, Ben-Gvir would head the united list, while Religious Zionism would receive roughly 40 percent of the slate through a “zipper-style” arrangement or another similar formula dividing representation between the two factions.

{Matzav.com}