Netanyahu said to be eyeing joint slate with Bennett’s New Right party

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reportedly examined the possibility of teaming up with Education Minister Naftali Bennett’s New Right party, despite past animosity between them.

Education Minister Naftali Bennett and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem on August 31, 2015. (Marc Israel Sellem/Pool/Flash90)

After the opposition’s rising star Benny Gantz’s maiden political speech and talks of merges in the center-left bloc, the premier is eyeing a similar right-wing alliance, the Kan public broadcaster reports.

A scenario where Bennett becomes Netanyahu’s no. 2 is said to be beneficial for both, enabling the merged party to beat any center-left alliance, according to surveys ordered by Netanyahu’s Likud.

Conversely, the surveys reportedly show that Likud teaming up with Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon’s Kulanu party would cause the right-wing to lose votes.