Otzma Yehudit Chairman MK Itamar Ben Gvir on Monday called on his faction partner, Religious Zionism Chairman Bezalel Smotrich, to start at once negotiations to unite the national-religious right based on professional polling to determine the electoral power of each party.
“Yesterday we saw the left uniting to win the election,” Ben Gvir said in a press conference in Jerusalem. “Saar and Gantz are doing what’s right for them, to defeat the right in the election. They know that in order to win you have to close the deal now and come united to the public. They are maximizing power.”
However, he continued, “while the left unites and comes together, the right, unfortunately, is faltering, and it would be impossible to clash for two months and in the end come out exhausted and with our feathers plucked for the election. The public doesn’t deserve it, the people of Israel don’t deserve it, the State of Israel doesn’t deserve it.”
Ben Gvir noted that both parties together are given 10 seats in the polls, and suggested internal polls predict 12 seats. He believes their potential is 15 seats. This is probably not realistic, considering that traditionally the national-religious parties have maxed out at 12 seats, and should Yamina be able to put up a formidable fight, it, too, would stake a claim on those votes – probably collecting modern Orthodox voters who would never vote for Ben Gvir or Smotrich.
“If we manage to unite in time we can win a clear victory for the right,” Ben Gvir said, “And that’s why I call on my dear friend, Religious Zionism Chairman Bezalel Smotrich, to enter into immediate negotiations as early as this week. Our responsibility obliges us to go out to the public right now with a message of unity.”
“It’s no secret that we lost in the last election because many of the right-wing voters did not leave their homes. A union now would get these people out of the house and win the election,” ben Gvir promised.
Ben Gvir proposed hiring professional pollsters to estimate the electoral capacity of both parties and promised to abide by their conclusions.
“Each minute that passes and we haven’t made this connection we lose votes and lose the public, and, God forbid, may bring on a left-wing government,” Ben Gvir warned. “We have worked all year in harmony, love, joy, and partnership, and if we learn to do it now, with God’s help, we will win.”
