Netanyahu reportedly considering recruiting Dermer, Gal Hirsh, and Gilad Sharon to bolster Likud

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is reportedly considering recruiting outgoing Israeli Ambassador to the US Ron Dermer, former police commissioner candidate Gal Hirsch, and former prime minster Ariel Sharon’s son, Gilad Sharon, to bolster the Likud’s electoral slate ahead of the March election.

Ron Dermer, Israel’s ambassador to the United States, speaks at the Economic Club of Detroit in Detroit, Michigan, on June 4, 2018. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

The three are being considered in a possible effort to strengthen the Likud among center-right voters against the threat posed by breakaway Likud MK Gidon Sa’ar’s new party, New Hope, Walla news reports.

Dermer has long been considered one of Netanyahu’s closest advisers and has been reported to be one of his preferences to succeed him.

Former IDF brigadier general Gal Hirsch is seen at a press conference in Tel Aviv to announce his entry to politics on December 26, 2018. (Flash90)

Hirsh, a former IDF general and withdrawn candidate for police commissioner, is currently facing possible charges for evading taxes on more than $11m of income from defense deals.

Netanyahu previously rejected Gilad Sharon’s request for an exception to be made to allow him to run on the Likud list in the previous election, reportedly based on a personal vendetta that arose from the historical rivalry between his late father and the current prime minister,