Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is pushing Israel’s fractious right-wing parties to merge their candidate lists before Tuesday night’s deadline, seeking to prevent votes from being divided among parties that fail to clear the 3.25% threshold. Netanyahu is pursuing a record seventh term in the October 27 election, but polls indicate Likud could lose about a third of its parliamentary strength and leave his coalition dependent on Jewish Power and Religious Zionism. Religious Zionism merged with Zehut on September 1, while National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has rejected Netanyahu’s request to unite Jewish Power with Religious Zionism. Right-wing newcomer Ofer Winter has also refused to merge, presenting his campaign as a protest vote 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 and the military death toll, while Gadi Eisenkot’s Yashar party has risen in polls. Political analyst Amotz Asa-El said Netanyahu is confronting an unprecedented historical crisis and that his age is also a factor.