Liberman Urges Left-Wing Parties to Unite, Including Erdan

Avigdor Liberman, chairman of Yisrael Beiteinu, issued an urgent appeal on Wednesday for parties he terms the "servants' bloc" to immediately unite ahead of the Knesset list submission deadline. He specifically called for mergers between the parties of Benny Gantz, Chili Tropper, and for the first time, included Gilad Erdan's "Achdut" (Unity) movement within this bloc.

Liberman warned that independent runs by these three factions would lead to them falling below the electoral threshold, resulting in the loss of approximately four crucial mandates that could decide the election outcome. He asserted that none of these parties have a realistic chance of entering the Knesset on their own, but their separate candidacies would act as a "vacuum cleaner," siphoning significant support from the broader bloc.

The inclusion of Erdan's party is a notable shift, positioning it as integral to the bloc's electoral balance. With the deadline for official list submissions to the Central Elections Committee rapidly approaching, the pressure mounts on Gantz, Tropper, and Erdan to abandon independent campaigns.

The political landscape is currently characterized by intense negotiations, with the risk of wasted votes looming over various factions. The parties led by Gantz, Tropper, and Erdan are reportedly struggling to secure enough support to pass the electoral threshold individually. For opponents of the Netanyahu bloc, this scenario represents a familiar fear: the potential squandering of tens of thousands of votes spread across multiple parties that fail to cross the threshold, thereby automatically benefiting the rival bloc in the final mandate distribution.