Pro-Likud activists plan pressure campaign on New Hope, others to switch sides

Pro-Netanyahu activists are reportedly gearing up for what is being described as a massive campaign designed to pressure right-wing parties to join a Likud-led government coalition.

Right-wing parties New Hope and Yisrael Beytenu are both in the replace-Netanyahu bloc and Yamina is also considering signing on, joining forces with center-left and Arab factions to oust the premier.

But Likud is hoping to convince them to switch sides and rejoin Netanyahu, despite promises from New Hope leader Gideon Sa’ar and Yisrael Beytenu’s Avigdor Liberman not to do so.

“The protests outside [the Prime Minister’s Residence] at Balfour are nothing compared to what will be outside their homes and synagogues,” an activist involved in the campaign tells Ynet. “This is something at a level they haven’t seen.”

New Hope politician Zeev Elkin, a former Likud stalwart, confirms reports that Likud has sent representatives to party leaders to offer the top ministries, but tells Army Radio they were turned down.

He says it is up to Yamina’s Naftali Bennett, indicating that the rest of the bloc is already set.