Likud campaign heads told their voters that if asked, they should tell surveys that they mean to vote for Blue and White, Channel 12 reported on Friday evening.Should the vote count after the upcoming elections show that Blue and White did not pass the electoral threshold, tens of thousands of votes would be wasted. Prime minister and head of the Likud Benjamin Netanyahu is likely to benefit from the removal of his current coalition partner, Defense Minister and Blue and White head Benny Gantz.
The report suggested that these efforts are meant to feed Gantz’s hope of being reelected to the Knesset and indeed, most published polls predict Blue and White would get between four to five mandates. Similar efforts to present surveys with misleading information were noted on social media as well.
Gantz himself warned that, should his party not pass the electoral threshold, Netanyahu would be able to carry out a series of possible steps such as promoting a so-called French Law which would protect a serving prime minister from being indicted of any wrongdoing while in office. While such a measure exists in France, the immunity is only valid while the person serves in office; he or she may be indicted when their term is up.
Netanyahu denied he means to pass such legislation himself but refused to say if he would object to it should another minister or MK present it. He is facing a trial for alleged corruption and breach of trust.
The report claimed that Likud supporters debated whether they should also pretend to vote for Meretz to offer its leaders the same false security of passing the electoral threshold, but decided against it.
A public letter penned by former IDF officers who served with him asked Gantz to resign to allow the left-leaning bloc to run under a new leader, but he refused.