Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is pressing Israel’s fractious right-wing parties to merge their candidate lists before Tuesday night’s deadline, seeking to prevent votes from going to parties that fail to clear the 3.25% threshold. Netanyahu is pursuing a record seventh term in the October 27 election, but polls have for months forecast a defeat for his nationalist-religious coalition. Likud is projected to remain the largest party with 20-23 seats, down by about one-third from its current parliamentary strength, leaving Netanyahu dependent on allies including Jewish Power and Religious Zionism. Religious Zionism merged with Zehut on September 1 with Netanyahu’s blessing and, according to two political sources, his assistance, while National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has rejected calls to unite Jewish Power with Religious Zionism. Right-wing newcomer Ofer Winter has also refused to merge, presenting his campaign as a protest over the security failure preceding the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack. Netanyahu’s political position has weakened amid criticism over that attack, the wars in Gaza, Iran and Lebanon, concessions to ultra-Orthodox allies seeking military-service exemptions and Israel’s military death toll, while former military chief Gadi Eisenkot’s Yashar party has risen in polls.