Netanyahu has his 'natural partners' on side, but Likud still worried
Analysis: The prime minister has the clear backing of the right in wake of the attorney general's call for his indictment, but his party fears that a diminished bloc will make it difficult to form a government after the elections
After Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit announced his intention to indict Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in all three criminal cases against him, the prime minister's partners in the rightist bloc rallied around him. They insisted that they remained loyal, and stressed that they would recommend to President Reuven Rivlin that Netanyahu be the one to form the next government. Netanyahu will officially kick off the Likud election campaign on Monday, in the shadow of those looming indictments, and will unveil the Likud's "national team" for the 21st Knesset at a major event at Kfar Maccabiah.
The objective of the event, which is being held a fair period after the party's primaries, is to raise morale and energize party activists; but it is also to refocus the campaign messages and move on to the true objective — victory in the elections and the formation of a stable government with all the parties in the bloc.
On Friday, Netanyahu summoned about 10 Knesset members to a meeting on the campaign, showed them new campaign videos and consulted with them on the party line. On Monday, the prime minister will meet with other Knesset members, and also ask them for their input on the campaign.
This is a real shift in Netanyahu's modus operandi, since in previous campaigns there were complaints that Knesset members were not involved or informed of the media line, and that the prime minister had placed most of the emphasis of the campaign on the "Netanyahu" brand and not on the members of the team.
Tighter messaging
By the end of the week, Netanyahu's so-called "natural partners" again tightened their messaging, stressing they would be recommending that Netanyahu form the next government and would support him during his next term in office, despite the attorney general's decision.
Meanwhile, the AG's announcement also sparked a protest against Netanyahu on Friday, with Labor Party activists traveling in a convoy of 60 vehicles toward Netanyahu's residence in Jerusalem, waving black flags and calling on the prime minister to resign. The activists also tried to hang pictures of Netanyahu at Habimah Square in Tel Aviv, but the police prevented them from doing so.
Despite the declarations of support from the right-wing, there is still concern in Netanyahu's camp that not all the bloc's parties will pass the threshold. Furthermore, internal polls show that the potentially reduced size of the right-wing bloc could pose a major problem in forming the next government.
On Thursday evening, following the publication of the attorney general's decision, almost every party in the current coalition issued announcements of support for Netanyahu, promising to back only him to form the next government. The New Right party, like Yisrael Beiteinu Chairman Avigdor Lieberman, declared that Netanyahu has the same right "to a presumption of innocence as any other citizen in the country," and made it clear that they would wait for the outcome of the pre-indictment hearing. Shas meanwhile has made it clear that it supports no other candidate but Netanyahu, and United Torah Judaism has made a similar statement.
Kulanu's caution
The only ones who kept silent were members of the Kulanu party, an off-shoot of Likud headed by Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon, who did not issue a statement of support despite journalists' requests. That silence was broken by Housing Minister Yifat Shasha-Biton at a cultural event in Be'er Sheva on Saturday, when she said that they did not intend to rejoice in Netanyahu's legal woes and did not rule out a meeting with the prime minister.
Later that day, Kahlon touched on an issue mentioned in Mandelblit's recommendations, that Netanyahu had allegedly sought negative coverage of his finance minister. "I very much hope that the allegations about a demand to give me negative coverage prove to be untrue," Khalon said in a statement released by his party.
"There is an entire network of people in whose interests it is for me not to continue as finance minister. The mendacious reports that have been published about me in the media, whether with the encouragement of people of wealth… or other interested parties will not stop us from continuing to work for the Israeli public. What has been revealed is only the tip of the iceberg," Kahlon said.
When it came to Netanyahu himself, Kahlon's message was ambiguous and vague. He also declined to express his support or lack of support for the head of the opposing camp, Benny Gantz.
Nevertheless, Kahlon has on several occasions recently criticized the economic platform of both Gantz and his Blue and White party, as well as that of Avi Nissenkorn, who holds the fifth spot on the list. He said that they intended to cancel key plans that have already been implemented, and for that reason he was also unable to approve of their economic outlook.
