It is unclear if Netanyahu's warning is genuine or is part of his week-long campaign to get people to fear that he will lose in order to increase voter turnout among right-wing voters.
It is referred to in Israel as the “gevalt" campaign, a Yiddish expression of alarm.
Earlier in the day, Netanyahu, went to the Netanya beach and warned people there that if they do not vote, Likud will lose.Netanyahu did not don his swimming suit and join the thousands who flocked the beaches of Israel, but rather came to meet them."I am here at the beach, and there are a lot of people here," Netanyahu said. "But if they stay at the beach and not go an vote, they will wake up tomorrow with Yair Lapid heading a left-wing government."Netanyahu urged everyone at home and at the beach to vote for the Likud using the slip that reads "Mahal," which represents Netanyahu's party.The Prime Minister also claimed that "supporters of the Blue and White mark the Mahal slips from behind, which makes the slip not count." Netanyahu then told the voters to "look at the slips carefully before voting."Netanyahu went to the beach on Netanya to tell people to get off the beach and vote pic.twitter.com/6uSZsLEcGB
— Lahav Harkov (@LahavHarkov) April 9, 2019
In 2015, Netanyahu launched his gevalt in the final days of the campaign, and stirred controversy when, on election day, he warned that Arabs were coming out in droves to vote. Even though he later apologized for the racist remark, it had the desired effect – Netanyahu pulled ahead of the Zionist Union and won the election.