In a round of meetings Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has held with members of the right-wing bloc these past few days, various possibilities for forming a right-wing government were raised.

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Among other options, party leaders discussed the need to find a creative solution to National Religious party leader Bezalel Smotrich's opposition to joining a government that would be dependent on Ra'am and the need to pressure members of New Hope and other parties in an attempt to persuade them to detach themselves from those lists and join a Netanyahu government.

But Israel Hayom has learned that another idea was floated as a sort of "last resort." Although Netanyahu said during the campaign that he would not agree to serve as prime minister in a rotation, he might be forced to agree to a rotation with Yamina leader Naftali Bennett, who would take the first turn as prime minister, with Netanyahu in the role of alternate prime minister. This position is allowed under a law that was changed to bring Benny Gantz into the current government as alternate prime minister.

Political officials have reportedly run this scenario by New Hope leader Gideon Sa'ar, who has agreed to enter a government under that format, without Netanyahu as prime minister.

A few conditions would have to be met for this option to be implemented. First, Netanyahu has refused to a two-year rotation, and as of Friday it was still unclear for what period of time he would be willing to see Bennett serve as prime minister. However, the very fact that Netanyahu is willing to consider any rotation is a major change.

Second, Netanyahu's Likud party would demand that should the Supreme Court rule against Netanyahu being allowed to serve as prime minister, Bennett would step down and allow Netanyahu to head the government.

Third, Netanyahu and his family would remain in the Prime Minister's Residence in Jerusalem for the entire period the government is in power, even when he is not prime minister. Bennett is expected to agree to this condition, and will continue living in his own home in Raanana. The Likud has not responded to this report. According to Sa'ar, "No such proposal has been made."

Meanwhile, sources close to Netanyahu have raised the possibility that as a last-ditch answer, another Likud member might serve as prime minister to persuade Sa'ar to join the coalition.

On Thursday night, Netanyahu met with both Smotrich and Bennett.

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Prior to the meeting, Bennett said, "Since the election, countless Israelis have reached out to me, asking, really begging, me to pull Israel out of the ongoing chaos. I am here with a lot of good will and I am committed to doing what I can to rescue Israel from the chaos and form a good, stable government. This is the time for national responsibility."

After the meeting, the Likud and Yamina issued a joint statement: "The meeting between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Yamina leader Naftali Bennett is over. It was conducted in good spirit and a positive atmosphere. They agreed to meet again."

Earlier Thursday, Joint Arab List Chairman Ayman Odeh ruled out joining a coalition under Netanyahu, which will make it more difficult for the anti-Netanyahu bloc to replace the prime minister.

Speaking to the Arabic radio station Nas, Odeh said, "We will in no circumstances agree to support or allow the establishment of a government under Naftali Bennett," and added "We won't replace a racist with a racist."

Speaking to the Haredi news site Kikar Hashabbat on Thursday, leader of the far-right Otzma Yehudit, Itamar Ben-Gvir was asked if he would oppose the establishment of a government supported from outside by the Religious Zionist party and the Islamist Ra'am. Ben-Gvir answered that he would not "be a partner in a government like that."

When asked if he would vote against it, Ben-Gvir repeated his unwillingness to be a partner. When asked specifically if he would join the opposition, Ben-Gvir declined to answer.

After Ben-Gvir's remarks in the interview, associates of the prime minister accused Smotrich, who ran on a joint ticket with Otzma Yehudit, of preventing a right-wing government that would have the support of Ra'am.

Smotrich rushed to calm the waters and told Israel Hayom: "Not from outside, not from inside, not maybe, not abstention, not directly and not indirectly. We will vote against any cooperation with [Ra'am leader Mansour] Abbas. Maybe Itamar didn't understand the question, maybe he wanted to coordinate with me, but in any case – there will be no government like that. Full stop."

While all this was unfolding, Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid left early Thursday, Holocaust Remembrance Day, for a six-day vacation to the US. He is expected to return on the eve of Independence Day, April 14.

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In the past 48 hours alone, dozens if not hundreds of reports have been written and broadcast that are designed to turn the latest poll results around and create the opposite impression – that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is going to lose. To that end, two senior Army Radio hosts joined forces for a special two-hour broadcast; another veteran reporter revealed the source of a story one of her colleagues had reported on at Channel 2; and as a group they are horrified over recent recordings of Netanyahu associate Natan Eshel making racist remarks about Sephardi voters.

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When political correspondent Amit Segal exposed Gantz advisor Yisrael Bachar's remarks about his boss, most of the occupants of the studios preferred to attack the recorder and wonder aloud, without knowing anything about it, if he had acted on behalf of Netanyahu. The content of the recordings itself, Bachar's harsh thoughts about Gantz – with whom he has worked closely for a year – were sidelined. When the Natan Eshel tapes were revealed, in which Eshel said not a work about Netanyahu but rather discussed his own opinions, no one asked in any studio who had recorded him, on behalf of whom, or whether Benny Gantz or one of his people were behind it. Never mind the media's gentle handling of Oztma Yehudit leader Itamar Ben Gvir, who is siphoning votes from the Right that will go to waste; and their total ignoring reporter Erel Segal's expose in Israel Hayom on Sunday, which revealed that Gantz attends meetings with the police about his business affairs, despite the police commissioner's denial.

A few weeks ago, the Central Elections Committee became concerned that there were some who would try and exploit the public's concern about coronavirus to disrupt the elections. For the past two days, not a single person in the media has been in doubt about who that entity would be – the Likud. Benny Gantz tweeted something about Netanyahu's "mafia-like" methods, and the rest are falling in line and repeating that message. As if panic about coronavirus could be stirred up in north Tel Aviv alone, but not Bat Yam or Ofakim.

Today, voting began, and with it, the various parties' new spins, lies, and crude messages. Cries of "Gevald!" from every direction, as well as efforts to dampen hope – all in accordance with the requirements of the moment. Today, too, the media will do everything it can to check the Right's momentum and devote itself to the messages from the Right's political opponents. Netanyahu and the other right-wing party leaders will do everything they can to send whatever message suits their needs at the moment, even if there is some discrepancy between that message and the truth. So today, the most important thing is to ignore what we hear and what they are saying, and vote our conscience. We must cast our ballots for the party that best reflects the identity of the nation as we envision it. Everything else simply doesn't matter.

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According to the party leader, "It [the bloc] was the right move at the time. It was something that was important to do in order to prevent the rise of a left-wing government. But next time, it won't happen," he said.

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"We will not run as a bloc, hampering other political moves. If [Prime Minister] Netanyahu cannot put together a government, we won't go back to what happened these past few months. We will have to look at other options and other mergers," the leader continued.

Meanwhile, Channel 13 reported Tuesday that New Right MKs Naftali Bennett and Ayelet Shaked were slated to meet on Wednesday to discuss their political future. Shaked is expected to make a decision about which party she will join in the next election – the New Right, or one of the religious Zionist parties.

On the Left, there is also talk about possible mergers and moves ahead of an election. On Tuesday evening, MK Stav Shafir told Radio Kol Barama that she saw potential success in the Democratic Union and Labor running as a joint list, despite criticism of "ideological differences."

"I'd like to hear where the chasm between the Democratic Union and the Labor Party lies," Shafir said.

"There are no gaps. Anyone who claims otherwise wants us to go down together. Most Labor voters want to run together with the Democratic Union. In the end, it's [Labor] chairman Amir Peretz who has to decide. When [Gesher leader] Orly Levy-Abekasis says that there is an 'immense gap,' she is essentially saying that our positions are not legitimate. We can't bring each other down,' Shafir said.

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The prevailing belief is that Rivlin will be able to squeeze everything possible out of the opportunity. This time, everyone's eyes are on him. After calling for unity and urging the candidates to join hands, the president must, by law, assign on the responsibility of assembling the government.

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Rivlin can decide that given the lack of a clear win, he will give the responsibility of assembling a government to the winner of the election – Benny Gantz, under whom Blue and White became the biggest party. That is what former President Chaim Herzog did in 1984 when he decided to make Shimon Perez responsible for putting together a government when Peres' Labor party received the same number of votes as the Likud under Yitzhak Shamir.

Rivlin could also go with whoever brings in the most recommendations from his fellow MKs. In that case, Netanyahu would appear to have an advantage. He has about 56 seats in his pocket, on the Right and from the haredi parties. Gantz, on the other hand, has only Blue and White and the other two left-wing parties, which give him only about 45 recommendations. And if Gantz doesn't up his number of recommendations, it will be a resounding political failure. Gantz could easily enlist the support of Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Lieberman, who shares his message of a unity government without the haredim, as well as the support of the Arab parties (with the possible exception of Balad), which under Ayman Odeh and Ahmad Tibi have been heavily hinting that they wouldn't have a problem recommending Gantz if it helped oust Netanyahu.

It's not certain it would be a boon to either candidate to be the first one assigned to assemble a government. If the first fails, the second will get a chance. When the time allotted by law runs out, there is a difference between someone else being given a chance and knowing that the country will face another election. Party leaders will think twice before calling a third election and putting Israel on the list of politically unstable countries, like Italy.

A mandate from the president isn't the only thing on Netanyahu's mind when he analyzes the election results. Even if he manages to form a government, it will be a coalition that will bind his hands and possibly might not last long. If left-wing figures like Amir Peretz or Gantz become coalition partners, it will mean a freeze on planned reforms to the justice system, law enforcement, and will enable pressure for concessions when the Trump administration unveils its peace plan.

Many media pundits and members of the opposition think that this is a positive development. They see the moves the Right is initiating as designed to make Netanyahu immune from prosecution and allow him to be tried while serving as prime minister, as he works to weaken the court and the prosecution.

Law enforcement and justice officials' war against Netanyahu is a personal one, whose goal is to topple Netanyahu. The moment law enforcement doesn't come up with the goods, they become targets, like the attorney general.

For the Right, depending on left-winger to form a coalition is a major step back from what the right-wing government achieved, and there appeared to be a lot more to come. That is what the Likud supporters meant by their cries of "We don't want unity!" It appears that if Likud supporters were to vote on whether they wanted a unity government or a third election, most would choose the second option.

But as bad, or funny, or bizarre, as that sounds, the possibility of another election in February or March of next year is on the table. As of right now, none of the candidates have a chance of forming a government. Gantz walled himself off by his phone call to Ayman Odeh after the election. Netanyahu closed himself off with leaders of the Right and the haredim and formed an alliance with them. Now he needs them, and they will need him later one. Just like they could decide to join a government under Gantz, he could head them off and join forces with Gantz himself.

As far as Netanyahu is concerned, the only scenario in which he is not prime minister is a third election. The question is – do the other right-wing parties feel the same way? The only coalition Gantz could assemble would be a nearly impossible one: Lieberman and the haredim, or the New Right and Meretz. None of these are combinations that could work together and survive for long. So despite what party leaders were saying just before the election, a third round might be the best option for them.

While Gantz's achievement might be partial, it's the most he could have gotten out of this election. Even in the rosiest scenario, it was clear from the beginning he wouldn't have a coalition unless he went with the Arabs. Gantz's achievement, therefore, is in throwing a wrench into Netanyahu's plans. He could try to break down the right-wing alliance and bring some of its members to his side, or he could try to foment a rebellion in the Likud to have Netanyahu replaced as party leader. If one of those tactics succeeds, it could install him as prime minister, but neither one has much of a chance.

So Gantz has two bad choices: joining a government under Netanyahu and the Right, either with or without Lapid, or a third election. It's unclear which would be worse for him. If he has to run in a third election, it would be the toughest entrée into politics any candidate has ever had. Is Gantz built for a long-term campaign? He might be more tempted by an appointment to the post of defense minister in a Netanyahu-led government that would hold on for a few years.

Gantz would really like for the threat of a third election to spark a revolt in the Likud that would oust Netanyahu. Then he could form a unity government with the new party head. Unless Netanyahu resigns, that's unlikely to happen. The Likud ministers would prefer another election over facing off with Netanyahu. For Netanyahu to be ousted from the party leadership, a senior party member would need to call a primary election. If that happened, most senior Likud members would back Netanyahu.

The failure of the Right in this election stemmed mainly from Netanyahu's scare campaign, which started to sound like he was crying wolf. It was hard to convince supporters that the right-wing government was in danger when he said it twice already, and it turned out not to be. This time, when the right-wing government really was in danger, no one believed it. Likud strongholds in the periphery, in the poorer neighborhoods of major cities, and even in Judea and Samaria saw much lower voter turnout this time than in April. Left-wing areas, however, were fully engaged. A scent of a possible change of government was in the air and everyone lent their hand to the effort. The Arab sector also saw an unusually high rate of participation in the election. Netanyahu thought that the idea of putting cameras in polling stations and pressuring the Arab sector would make them feel desolate, but it did the opposite – it spurred them on to vote.

Just like the possibility of removing Netanyahu as head of the Likud isn't an option, the possibility of Blue and White splitting isn't an option now, either. If anything could help Gantz navigate the intensive months in which he was attacked and slandered from every side, it was the wall-to-wall support he enjoyed from the media from the moment he challenged Netanyahu. Scandals were swept under the rug, he was asked almost no tough questions, and even when he decided to boycott some media outlets he was afraid of, no one gave him a hard time or criticized him for it. So it doesn't look like Gantz is ready to give up his biggest asset, because he knows that the moment he cooperates with Netanyahu, he'll lose the protection he had and he will be marked by the media, as were so many who preceded him, and paid the price.

When Amir Peretz managed to become leader of the Labor party, it was clear to him what the next step was. With every fiber of his being, he wanted to do what he did in the 2006 election – bring Likud supporters to Labor. He set a goal of winning 15 seats, so he should have been disappointed with the results. But Peretz wasn't. He thinks it was a good result. He also thinks he lost a lot of seats to Blue and White but that his aggressive campaigning in Likud areas moved two seats from the Likud to Labor.

Peretz stressed that he wouldn't go back on his promise not to join a government under Netanyahu. Joining the government would have been advantageous to Peretz for many reasons. He would have been proof against being removed as party leader, for example. He would have been promised to be allowed to run for president a year and a half from now. His party colleagues would have received major portfolios like finance or other economic ministries. But Peretz kept his promise. Many of his predecessors hung onto their integrity but not onto power.

When we look at the election results for the Democratic Union, it's hard not to wonder what Ehud Barak's strange political turn meant. He started out as a kind of candidate for prime minister, went on to herald a unification of the Left, and finally joined forces with Meretz and disappeared into oblivion. His associated are convinced that he got back into politics to help bring down Netanyahu.

Others see his political foray as a business venture. In the many years since he last held public office, the former prime minister and defense minister has been forgotten by the public and the media. And nothing is worse for business than when it turns out that the person who was made a director because he could supposedly open doors can at most break into homes. This last run was very valuable for Barak. In three months, he became one of the most interesting, relevant figures in Israeli public life, and perhaps that the point from the beginning.

One of the people who came out of the election disappointed was Ayelet Shaked. The Yamina leader has taken quite the path in the space of a few months, but the election results have put her at an impasse. When party lists were finalized a month and a half ago, it looked as if no one was better for the job than she. Polls were favorable and activists who were hungry for success were mostly willing to swallow the humiliation of her jumping ship from Habayit Hayehudi to found the New Right with Naftali Bennett, and not only welcome her back on the list but to make her head of it. It was so obvious to everyone that she was only one who could lead it to success that Rafi Peretz turned over the keys without a fight and without preconditions.

The division of labor was supposed to have been clear – Peretz and Bezalel Smotrich were to bring in religious Zionist and national haredi voters, and Shaked would bring in the liberal religious and the secular voters, increasing the list's normal electorate.

That didn't happen. Very quickly, Shaked found herself pulled into a sectorial campaign. In the final stretch, the target audience was religious voters only, and she put all her eggs into that basket. Shaked saw how Netanyahu was trying to eat away at her religious Zionist base and she was forced to fight him for that constituency. It's uncertain how many religious Zionist voters moved to the Likud, but there's no doubt that the number of secular voters who switched to Yamina was negligible.

If we're talking about Yamina, we can't avoid mentioning the party that nibbled away at the Right. Up until the last, Netanyahu didn't know what to do about Otzma Yehudit. After he decided to wipe them out, he saw them rising in the polls and took care to make that clear, thinking that the party could bring another four seats to the right-wing bloc.

In the end, it turned out the attention paid to Itamar Ben-Gvir and Otzma Yehudit wasn't worth the energy. After the election, Smotrich rushed to attack Otzma Yehudit, claiming that ego had cost the Right precious seats. The Right did indeed lose seats, but their worth is questionable. In retrospect, Otzma Yehudit "burned" about 80,000 right-wing votes by failing to make it past the minimum electoral threshold. That number proves that Netanyahu was right by saying nothing could help the party. They were too far from the minimum threshold.

The election results also showed that in contrast to what Ben-Gvir had said, the right-wing bloc wouldn't have had 61 seats, even with Otzma Yehudit. Ben-Gvir might have wasted 2.5 right-wing seats, but as things stand, they wouldn't have been enough. Even if he had dropped out of the race and the votes were spread between the other right-wing parties, or if he had made it into the Knesset with four seats of his own, the basic picture – in which the Right doesn't have a majority – wouldn't change.

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Shaked reportedly said at a meeting with party officials on Monday evening that if she failed to bring in more than seven seats, she would resign.

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A senior Yamina official said Wednesday: "She has no leadership ability. We're in shock. She managed to push a pencil around. We're waiting for her to resign."

Shaked was named leader of Yamina after lengthy talks with the other parties on the list, Habayit Hayehudi and National Union. Habayit Hayehudi leader Rafi Peretz agreed to forgo the top spot on the list in the hope that Shaked, a secular woman, would bring in a broader base of support.

Late Tuesday evening, Peretz and National Union leader Bezalel Smotrich announced that their parties would split from the Yamina list.

Shaked told party activists: "I believe strongly in Yamina and I believe that we need to go on together, and not split up. In any case, we are continuing to work together in coalition talks, as well as in the Knesset."

"We still don't know the final results. Let's wait until the morning and then see. We need to see how many seats the [right-wing] bloc has," Shaked said.

In the April 9 election, the New Right under Shaked and former Education Minister Naftali Bennett failed to make it past the minimum electoral threshold of 3.25% and was therefore not represented in the 21^st Knesset.

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However, the two parties to the right of the Likud – one of which, the New Right, failed to make it over the minimum threshold and into the Knesset in April – have yet to agree on a joint list. If that doesn't happen soon, it won't happen at all, and the day of the election will see them in much the same situation as they were six months ago.

The results could also be a repeat. While the poll shows the New Right and the United Right receiving six seats each, the polls last time failed to foresee that the New Right would crash and burn on election day. What's more, in April, the United Right included Habayit Hayehudi, National Union, and Itamar Ben-Gvir's Otzma Yehudit party, whereas now there is still a question about whether the smaller right-wing parties will run as a single list or not.

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All this shakes down to a near tie in the number of seats, with 57 predicted for the Right – without Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Lieberman – and 56 for the Left, meaning that neither bloc would secure the 61 seats needed to form a government.

According to the poll, if the election were held now, Yisrael Beytenu would win seven seats and retain its position as the party that would tip the scales.

The poll projected nine seats for the newly-formed Democratic Union list (Meretz and Ehud Barak's Israel Democratic Party).

The poll projected 31 seats for the Likud, making it the largest party in the Knesset, with Blue and White behind by only one seat, at 30.

Labor would be the biggest loser to the Democratic Union, winning only a projected five seats.

On the right side of the political map, the poll projected that the New Right under Ayelet Shaked would win six seats, the same number projected for the United Right (Habayit Hayehudi and National Union.)

The poll also looked at possible joint lists on the Right. If all the right-wing parties were to run on one list with Shaked in the top spot, it would receive no fewer than 16 seats. In that scenario, the Likud would drop to 25 seats, and Blue and White would gain one seat, bumping it up to 31.

The poll showed that if the same right-wing list were to run with Habayit Hayehudi leader Rafi Peretz as leader, it would win only nine seats, and the Likud would win 30. Therefore, it's no wonder that reports from behind the scenes say that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is working to prevent Shaked from becoming the leader of a united right-wing party.

Sources involved in the ongoing negotiations to form a united right-wing list argue that the latest polls, in which the New Right performed well, could throw a wrench into the talks and prompt the United Right to increase its demands.

Sources close to Peretz and National Union leader Bezalel Smotrich said that "The New Right had really big numbers a few months before the last election, too, and we know how that ended."

On Thursday, Peretz released his latest offer to the New Right on Twitter, writing, "I was happy to hear that the New Right … is accepting our proposal for the 4th, 7th, and 10th places [on the list]." Peretz urged Shaked to meet with him "to decide on who would be party head."

However, Shaked on Thursday announced that "the public will not forgive anyone who prevents a union of the Right."

"The ball is in the United Right's court. The matter is urgent because I intend – if this union allows it – to form additional unions with every right-wing party and establish a kind of large Republican party, with a wide range of opinions to the right of the Likud," Shaked said.

When asked who they thought was most qualified to serve as prime minister, 45% of respondents picked Netanyahu, compared to 29% who picked Blue and White leader Benny Gantz. Only 9% said they thought Barak was the best candidate for prime minister, and another 9% said they thought Shaked would be the best prime minister.

Meanwhile, Israel Hayom has obtained a Likud position paper that was recently distributed to party MKs and ministers, instructing them to publicly address several issues that could be important to potential Likud voters.

One key message Likud MKs are being told to underscore is that the Likud "will not be part of a unity government."

When it comes to possible mergers between the smaller right-wing parties, the Likud's message is that Netanyahu is not intervening, but if necessary, he will.

"We must stop right-wing votes from being wasted so we don't see the right-wing bloc hurt or even another election," the paper stated.

How should Likud MKs talk about Gantz? Instructions are to say that "Every appearance he makes proves that the job is too big for him," and mention that the Israel Police is still refusing to disclose details of the "corrupt deal for 50 million shekels, from which Gantz and his friends made 4 million."

And Ehud Barak? "His pathetic apology [for the events of October 2000] which fooled no one, had only one purpose … to allow him to join up with Meretz. We are still waiting for Ehud Barak to apologize for having been the worst prime minister in the history of Israel, who ran away from Lebanon, left an IDF soldier to die, did nothing about the lynch [on IDF reservists] in Ramallah, [and] led us into the Intifada," Likud MKs were told to say.

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Peretz's people received the message late Thursday and reportedly rejected it out of hand. Shaked said she was not giving Peretz an ultimatum, but rather framing what needed to be done to strengthen the right-wing bloc going into the Sept. 17 election.

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Sources close to Shaked said, "No ultimatum was given. This is a chance to establish unity. Obviously, if that doesn't happen, each party will run separately. There are two possibilities: unity or a liberal, right-wing religious party."

Peretz's people insist that Shaked's message was indeed an ultimatum.

On Monday, Bennett – with whom Shaked co-founded the New Right party after the pair abandoned Habayit Hayehudi, only to see their new party fail to make it over the minimum electoral threshold on April 9 – discussed a possible joint run with Shaked in an Army Radio interview, saying that "all options are on the table."

Bennett said that his relations with Shaked were "excellent" and that "no vote will be lost."

Recently, Peretz spoke out against Shaked serving as head of Habayit Hayehudi. Peretz objects because she is a secular woman, which in his opinion makes her unfit to lead the religious Zionist party. Earlier this month, a number of leading religious Zionist rabbis circulated a petition arguing that no woman, secular or religious, should serve as the head of any political party in Israel.

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