Midnight election drama: Netanyahu presses haredi party to drop out
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets Haredi Public Party chairman Moti Leitner in bid to prevent wasted right-wing votes; Leitner outlines demands
Assessment
Netanyahu is working the margins of Israel's electoral math just hours before polls close. By pressing a minor haredi party to withdraw, he aims to consolidate right-wing votes that could otherwise fall below the threshold and vanish. Leitner's counterdemands reveal this is a transactional negotiation, not a ideological appeal. The outcome will determine whether Netanyahu's bloc gains or loses a critical Knesset seat.