The people you don't know: Netanyahu's campaign hive revealed

The election campaign is shifting into high gear, and behind the campaign of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Likud, a wider hive than the one known to the public has been operating in recent months. Alongside Netanyahu's close and veteran advisors, including Yonatan Urich and Topaz Luk, as well as Bat Yam Mayor Zvika Brot, who is considered the de facto campaign manager, ynet has received information about a series of other figures who take part in the staff work and are engaged, among other things, in formulating messages, producing videos, activity on social networks, polls, and data.

One of the central figures in this hive is Avi Gross, a businessman from Michmoret who is considered very close to Netanyahu and who has donated his money to right-wing organizations in recent years. Gross is behind the production company New Vision Production (NVP), which provides media services to Likud and operates a complex for producing podcasts and videos, while simultaneously providing services to content creators from the right who identify with Netanyahu and his messages - this was already revealed by journalist Bar Peleg in Haaretz.

However, we are now publishing that, according to sources familiar with the campaign, Gross's role goes beyond that of a mere external supplier, and he is also significantly involved in the campaign work itself. According to those same sources, Gross participates in meetings with Urich, Luk, and other media personnel, and Netanyahu even consulted with him on issues concerning reserved spots on the Likud list. Sources also say that campaign staff, including Urich, Luk, Guy Levy, and other officials, frequently arrive to work from the NVP podcast complex in Petah Tikva. According to them, the production house has effectively become the location of the Likud campaign headquarters.

Gross also has a history of working around Netanyahu. In the past, he produced together with Ofir Falk, now the Prime Minister's diplomatic advisor, the film "The Trial" - a critical documentary about the Netanyahu trial and the judicial system. Another figure associated with NVP and integrated into the campaign work is Neve Pinchas, a content person and CEO of the production company. Pinchas deals with the field of content and production and assists the campaign work, including producing videos and building content and messages.

On the digital, social, and creative side, Elad Persman operates, who is described by sources familiar with the staff work as a "digital genius". According to them, he is involved in activity on social networks, videos, and formulating messages intended for the online arena. Persman's name has already been linked in the past to political activity on the web. In an investigation published in ynet and Yedioth Ahronoth in 2018, it was revealed that he was one of the founders of the satirical Facebook page "Matzankesh Metzaaytzim" ("Matzankesh Tweets"), which attacked and mocked political figures who opposed Netanyahu. In that same investigation, Persman's mother told that her son is also behind "Conspil", a site that dealt over the years with conspiracy theories.

Shlomo (Momo) Filber returned to the hive - this time as a pollster. A former director-general of the Ministry of Communications and someone who served as a state witness in the Netanyahu cases, Filber today deals with polls and political research for the Likud and Netanyahu campaign. According to information that reached ynet, Filber participates from time to time in campaign team meetings and internal discussions where the findings of the polls and research are presented and analyzed. Filber is currently in a hearing process before an indictment is filed.

On behalf of Filber, it was stated: "All pollsters in the country provide services to both media outlets and parties. As part of their work, they of course also sit with candidates and campaign managers in discussions about the research findings. I provide research services to other parties and bodies in the political system as well, and in this framework, I have also met with other campaign teams, in their headquarters, including parties in the opposition bloc."

Another figure who integrates into the system is Eyal Herzog, an entrepreneur and high-tech person who also worked in the past on Likud campaigns and is considered an advisor in the field of technology and data. In an interview with Kan 11 in August last year, Herzog referred to his work in previous election campaigns and said: "I helped Likud in the election campaign with data, with managing voter rolls, SMS, the most standard things. They turned it into as if I operated a network of bots. I was in all the corners of Likud - there is no network of bots, I have never heard and seen."

All these join the more familiar circle that surrounds Netanyahu. Yonatan Urich and Topaz Luk continue to be among the central figures in his close team, while Bat Yam Mayor Zvika Brot is considered the de facto campaign manager and is largely entrusted with the party and organizational aspects. Brot was also involved in the preparations for the Likud primaries and the issue of reserved spots on the list. Likud CEO David Sharan is also part of the official political hive. Recently, the party announced that MK Avichai Boaron will serve as the head of the Likud field headquarters in the elections.

Thus, alongside the faces most identified with Netanyahu, the campaign is conducted through a wide array of content, production, digital, data, and research personnel - some of them are almost unknown to the public, but according to sources familiar with the staff work, they are currently deep inside the Likud election machine. Avi Gross and Neve Pinchas did not provide a response. Likud responded: "The only way to prevent a left-wing government of Eisenkot and Lieberman with Yair Golan and the Arab parties is to vote Likud."