Likud assembles special team to lure defectors from Gadi Eisenkot's Yashar party afte

Just two and a half weeks before Israel's October 27 election, Likud has established a special team tasked with persuading several lawmakers from former IDF chief of staff Gadi Eisenkot's Yashar! party to defect. Yedioth Ahronoth and ynet have learned that the team consists of Likud lawmakers and several strategic advisers whose sole purpose is to facilitate the movement of lawmakers between political blocs immediately after the election. The tactic has been used in the previous two election cycles, with considerable success. Likud figures managed to draw Amichai Chikli, then a newly elected lawmaker, away from former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett's party, followed later in the government's term by Idit Silman, who served as coalition chairwoman. This time, however, Likud has expanded the number of people involved and developed more systematic methods for pressuring potential defectors.