Analyst Warns Netanyahu Risks Election Loss Without Coalition Unity

Journalist Michael Shemesh has warned that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces a significant risk of losing the upcoming election due to a failure to consolidate his political bloc. Shemesh criticized Netanyahu's apparent lack of preparedness for the list-closing deadline on Tuesday, highlighting that several parties within Netanyahu's potential coalition might not pass the electoral threshold.

Among the parties Shemesh identified as being at risk are Ofer Winter's party, which polls show at four seats but could be left out of the Knesset, and the "Modern Orthodox" party, which could lose tens of thousands of votes. The Noam party, associated with Rabbi Tav, is also mentioned as potentially losing thousands of votes that previously went to Netanyahu.

Shemesh contrasted the current situation with the previous election, where Netanyahu successfully unified his bloc, leading to a 64-seat majority. He stated that Netanyahu's failure to organize the bloc this time could prevent him from forming a government. The report also briefly mentions Kineret Barashi's declaration to vote only for Netanyahu.