Naftali Bennett and Ayelet Shaked’s party says it won't merge with others ahead of March elections, saying there's room for 2 national religious parties to Likud's right

With only two days left until slates close for March election, small parties seek alliance to prevent loss of votes, but it is unclear if they can bridge their differences in time

Even before interview in which national religious party head seemed to call gay couples unnatural, he'd cooked up a deal with Kahanists that may have buried his faction for good

As PM looks to grow size of his bloc, news site says his party has conducted polls to see how a unity list would fare in March 2 vote; Bennett, Smotrich discuss joint run

Democratic Camp lawmaker says she'll agree to drop from second to third place if it means three-party merger is maintained for coming elections

TV surveys have Likud slightly growing in strength following PM's announcement he'll ask Knesset for protection from graft charges; forecast continued deadlock after elections

New Right head issues ultimatum in bid to reform office held by Shas for years and bridge Orthodox-secular divide; made similar threat in 2015 without following through

Jewish Home, National Union and Otzma Yehudit weigh possibility of primaries as rejuvenated defense minister kicks off bid without waiting for longtime partner Shaked

PM said seeking merger of rightist parties to prevent lost votes, Bennett says New Right to run alone; Sa'ar challenges Netanyahu to debate, warns he'll doom party to opposition

Survey also predicts Gideon Sa'ar would score far better for right-wing bloc than premier if he leads ruling party; however, all scenarios still show political stalemate persisting