Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has recently voiced significant concern in private conversations about his Likud party's position heading into the upcoming elections.
According to a report by Kan News (Israel's public broadcaster), Netanyahu told associates: "We've lost ten mandates, I don't know how to get them back." In Israel's parliamentary system, mandates refer to Knesset seats, which are allocated proportionally based on vote share.
The report indicates that Netanyahu has not yet settled on a strategy to reverse the trend, and believes that without a change in the current situation, his party could lose the elections.
Additionally, the prime minister is said to be skeptical even of polls showing favorable results for Likud, believing his electoral position may actually be worse than the surveys suggest.
Concern within Likud has intensified following the entry into politics of retired Major General Ofer Winter, a former IDF commander known for his religious observance and military service in Gaza.
A recent Kan News poll gave Winter's new party five Knesset seats, while the Religious Zionism party led by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich fell below the electoral threshold required to enter the Knesset.
