Prime minister attacks Yisrael Beytenu after party agrees to share surplus vote with center-left alliance Blue and White. "Those who want [Blue and White leaders] Benny Gantz and Yair Lapid as prime minister should vote Lieberman, who has joined the Left," Netanyahu says.
Labor Leader Amir Peretz is trying to breathe new life into the battered party. In a special interview with Israel Hayom, he defends the decision to join forces with the Gesher party, levels harsh criticism at Blue and White, and appeals to frustrated Labor supporters to come back to their political home. Setting his sights on 15 seats come September's election, Peretz insists this goal is feasible.
President Reuven Rivlin expected to tell winner of Sept. 17 election that if a new government is not sworn in within 28 days, he would not get an extension and another MK would be tasked with the job. Measure aimed at ensuring all options are exhausted before calling an early election.
Yisrael Beytenu is sparing no effort to keep and grow its traditional voter base, Likud is trying to appeal to the electorate's natural right-wing tendencies, and Blue and White has yet to earmark any funds for a sector-specific campaign. Labor is still mulling the best approach by which to win the Russian vote, and Yamina, for its part, seems to be ignoring the sector altogether.
Rejecting Barak's apology for the events of October 2000 Ayman Odeh says, "We have already seen your cynical election apology to Mizrahi Jews. A real show of responsibility would be stepping down from the public stage. In order to replace the right-wing government and fight for a future [Israeli-Arab] partnership, you must be left in the past."
Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg says efforts include "minimizing potential harm and setting new standards for ad transparency." Social media giant is committed to "invest in safety in the lead-up to elections in Israel," she says.
While committee has final say on who will be allowed to run, Attorney General Avichai Mendelblit says Ben-Zion Gopstein and Baruch Marzel are "deep in the forbidden territory" of incitement to racism.
This is what we know so far about what the major political players intend to do in the week leading up the election and on Election Day itself to make sure they squeeze out every possible vote.
"Without a strong ideological Right, a Likud government will be established with the Left," faction leader Ayelet Shaked warns. "I am aiming for the highest political echelon in Israel and intend to go as far as I can to lead the country," she says.
Likud officials say National Union leader Bezalel Smotrich "went too far" by calling PM Benjamin Netanyahu "weak" for allowing an event in Afula to be cancelled over separate seating for men and women.