Netanyahu Unity Push Tests Election Boycott

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is turning his broad-national-government call at 13:47 IDT into an election message aimed at ending the anti-Netanyahu political boycott. He first made the appeal at Saturday's press conference and repeated it in a Tuesday television interview, while a Direct Polls survey found about half of Israelis favor a broad unity government after the election. Eisenkot and Lapid rejected sitting under Netanyahu; Gantz, Sa'ar, Ben-Gvir and Yair Golan also reacted. Netanyahu is keeping faith with Haredi partners through Torah-study and draft legislation, making the campaign test whether a broad Zionist coalition can be built while respecting Torah observance.