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<\/a><\/p>\nPrime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks on the phone on September 04, 2019. (Lior Mizrahi\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
It was an election-season stunt that drew such a flood of responses that the number\u2019s WhatsApp account was blocked within minutes and those calling received a busy signal.<\/p>\n
It also drew suspicions that it was a ploy to collect voter data.<\/p>\n
In a video posted to social media, Netanyahu is seen with longtime adviser Topaz Luk, who asks the prime minister whether he can publish his phone number. Netanyahu initially reacts with disbelief, saying, \u201cTopaz, have you gone crazy?\u201d before agreeing. <\/p>\n
\u201cI want to hear from you. Your suggestions, your questions, your problems. I want to hear, so leave me a message,\u201d Netanyahu said. He added that he could not promise to answer everyone but would respond to as many people as possible. <\/p>\n
Hundreds of messages and calls arrived within minutes and the WhatsApp account associated with the number was blocked. Luk later posted on X that the account had been disabled because of the volume of calls and said Netanyahu\u2019s team was working to restore it, directing people to Telegram in the meantime. <\/p>\n
Kan political correspondent Michael Shemesh questioned whether the number belonged to Netanyahu at all and suggested on X that the exercise was \u201cprobably designed to harvest the phone numbers of potential voters.\u201d <\/p>\n
Other users pointed to another clue that the handset seen in the video was unlikely to be Netanyahu\u2019s personal phone. One of the WhatsApp groups visible in Luk\u2019s video was a synagogue updates group whose latest message appeared to back political rival Naftali Bennett, the former prime minister who now heads the Beyachad party. <\/p>\n
\u201cSomething tells me that Bibi isn\u2019t signed up to the \u2018Menachem\u2019s House Main Shul Updates\u2019 group,\u201d one X user wrote, \u201cespecially not when the latest message there is \u2018yalla, it\u2019s time for Bennett.\u2019\u201d <\/p>\n
The Likud spokesperson had not responded to a request for comment on the accusations by the time of publication. <\/p>\n
It was not the first time Netanyahu handed out what he presented as his personal number during an election campaign. In August 2022, little more than two months before the vote that returned him to power, the then-opposition leader published another number and invited Israelis to video call him. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhy should only some people have my phone number? Everyone should have it,\u201d Netanyahu said at the time, joking that the move was a \u201cdramatic, world-changing decision.\u201d He told supporters who sent proof they had joined his Telegram channel that they would have a better chance of receiving a video call from him. <\/p>\n
The response was similarly intense. Likud said Netanyahu received 9,420 calls within the first 30 minutes, while follow-up videos showed calls and messages flooding the phone. <\/p>\n
Netanyahu\u2019s rivals mocked the stunt. Then-Finance Minister Avigdor Liberman released a parody video saying Netanyahu \u201chas not picked up the phone in 12 years,\u201d while Yair Lapid\u2019s Yesh Atid dismissed it as a \u201cfictional phone operated by Netanyahu\u2019s aides.\u201d <\/p>\n
The episode comes as Netanyahu faces a difficult reelection campaign, with roughly 20% of voters remaining undecided, many of whom are disillusioned Likud voters, according to pollsters and researchers cited by Reuters. <\/p>\n
A Channel 13 poll released earlier this month put Gadi Eisenkot\u2019s Yashar party at 23 seats, ahead of Likud with 21, and Netanyahu\u2019s current coalition projected to win just 49 of the Knesset\u2019s 120 seats. Eisenkot also led Netanyahu 47% to 34% when respondents were asked who was better suited to serve as prime minister. <\/p>\n
The phone-number appeal is the latest in a series of efforts to put Netanyahu directly in front of voters, including a blitz of highly publicized appearances. Last week, the prime minister visited a restaurant in Hadera, a Likud stronghold, where owner Simo Shtivi said his arrival was \u201clike hoisting the World Cup,\u201d as diners lined up for photos and a chance to speak with him. <\/p>\n
Netanyahu also made a surprise appearance with his wife Sara at a concert by Israeli pop star Eden Ben Zaken. A few days earlier, he filmed a campaign video at Jerusalem\u2019s Malha Mall meeting shoppers, including children. The Central Elections Committee later ordered the video removed because election law bars the use of children in campaign propaganda. <\/p>\n
Likud also rolled out billboards showing New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani alongside the leaders of Iran, Turkey and Hezbollah under the slogan, \u201cThey want Netanyahu to lose. Don\u2019t let them win.\u201d <\/p>\n