Likud and Religious Zionism Launch Joint Plan to Boost Voter Turnout

The Likud and Religious Zionism parties are launching a joint initiative aimed at increasing voter turnout for both parties, ahead of the upcoming elections. This coordinated effort will involve close cooperation between the two parties from now until election day, though Otzma Yehudit and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir will not be participating.

The program, led by Yisrael Gantz, head of the Benjamin Regional Council, seeks to mobilize approximately 200,000 potential voters who had not planned to vote, persuading them to cast their ballots through various means. Key components include joint management of election day operations, synchronized messaging, and on-the-ground activities. Activists will conduct door-to-door outreach in strategic locations, provide assistance to voters facing difficulties reaching polling stations, and make phone calls in areas with low expected turnout.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich are set to officially launch the program at a "Saving the Right" event in Jerusalem. The event will also feature prominent rabbis and heads of institutions from the Religious Zionist community, including Elikim Levanon, Yigal Levinstein, and Yehoshua Shapira. Notably, Ben-Gvir has not been invited to the event, and his party will not be part of this joint initiative.

Sources close to Netanyahu reportedly proposed a separate joint rally for Likud and Otzma Yehudit in the south at a later date to bridge the gap. However, Otzma Yehudit stated to Kan News that this exclusion is "further evidence of an attempt to push the party out of the next government."