Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says in closed conversations that elections to the Knesset will not be held before April 2025.
Netanyahu is preparing for the scenario of the state camp withdrawing from the coalition, which will result in their attempt to bring the elections ahead of time, as well as the signal for the renewal of the mass demonstrations against the government.
The Prime Minister estimates that by this time there will already be definite conclusions of the investigative committee that will be established, as well as a change of government in the US.
Challenged from the right, Netanyahu, photo: Oren Ben Hakon
In the meantime, Netanyahu intends to remain in office through the original right-wing coalition, which includes 64 mandates with religious Zionism, Otzma Yehudit and the ultra-orthodox factions, which may also be joined by Gideon Sa'ar and members of New Hope.
Netanyahu's concern.
The protests against the government and the legal reform,
The Prime Minister did not say these things to his associates in a vacuum.
This was preceded by a move led by six MKs in Likud - doubt about the embrace, doubt about the threat - who made it clear to Netanyahu that for them, elections in 2024 will not happen as long as it depends on them. One of the MKs discussed this with Netanyahu, who told him that he had no intention of going to the elections.
To this the MK replied that even if he changes his mind and tries to lead to elections - that he should not build on a majority in the Knesset. "The right-wing government is more important than you," he told him. If we have to, we will replace you in this Knesset with another leader from the Likud, the main thing is that the right-wing government remains That MK made it clear to Netanyahu that he prefers him to anyone else, but emphasized that he and five other MKs will not go with him to the election process.
Netanyahu and Gantz, photo: Haim Tzach/L.A.M
With eyes on the USA
According to one of the members of the group, the coming year is critical for the right.
On the agenda are tremendous American pressures to establish a Palestinian state in Gaza and a push for a two-state solution.
It is possible that these pressures will later be translated into pressures for the cessation of hostilities even before its objectives have been achieved.
Therefore, he says, there must be a right-wing government that will fend off all these pressures and will not agree to discuss "the day after" in the Gaza Strip, until the presidential elections near the end of the year.
Fighting in Gaza, archive, pressures to end it, photo: IDF spokesman
In recent days, Netanyahu adopted the line, and as mentioned, started making similar statements.
The polls in the US presidential race against incumbent President Joe Biden encourage him to think that at the beginning of next year a new president will indeed sit in the White House.
The "Settlement Conference" Netanyahu did not condemn it, and even encouraged it in a certain sense, photo: Oren Ben Hakon
That is why Netanyahu did not condemn, and even encouraged in a certain sense, the "Victory Conference" that called for settling in Gaza and Northern Samaria, in which ministers from the right-wing government took part.
Therefore, Yair Lapid's proposal to provide a safety net in the event of Ben Gabir's resignation from the government in the event of a "bad kidnapping deal" will be met with contempt.
Lapid is not a replacement for Ben Gavir, just as Gantz is not a replacement for Smotrich.
The only ones who can bring him the continuation of power until 2025 are his partners on the right.
He feared that his reign would end
While the public is consistently moving to the right, and this is probably even more true after October 7, Netanyahu's fear is that the bloc he heads will lose power.
This is evident in the polls as the Likud crashes and loses almost half of its power.
Netanyahu needs another party to take on his opponents from the right.
There is one thing Netanyahu is not afraid of, and to a large extent rightly so, and that is a rebellion in Likud.
As long as there are no elections and the government is stable, everyone is comfortable in their place.
Just for this to happen he must clearly win the war and assure them that he will not take them to the elections in the end of which many members of his party may lose their seats in the Knesset.
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