When Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s convoy pulled up to Airport City, near Ben Gurion Airport, on the afternoon of Dec. 16, several Likud ministers were waiting for him in one of the large spaces there. With them was the staff of his primary campaign against challenger Gideon Saar. Another hectic meeting ahead of the Likud primaries scheduled for Dec. 26.

Netanyahu has served consecutively as prime minister for over a decade, but he also failed twice in 2019 in his attempts to form a government. Since then, he has been indicted for bribery, fraud and violation of trust. Now he needs to win the upcoming March election more than he’s ever needed to win before. The idea that he is the party’s only leader can no longer be taken for granted. As soon as Saar accelerated his attacks and launched his own campaign to lead the Likud, Netanyahu needed to fight for his position and leadership. So he fights.

Netanyahu has a very tight and well-organized timetable ahead of him until Dec. 26. He shows up every morning at his primary headquarters and calls Likud voters personally, based on lists prepared in advance. These are personal conversations that always begin with the sentence, “The prime minister would like to talk to you.” Netanyahu himself then has a brief conversation with the person on the other end of the line. He refers to the man and woman by name, and mentions how he knows them, along with a few remarks about the role they have played in the party during his many years in the Likud. Some of them are Saar supporters. Others are wavering and need a boost. Netanyahu comes along and asks for their help. It’s that simple. “I need your support. It’s important to me,” he tells them. Netanyahu is planning to have as many as 2,000 such conversations by next Thursday. He believes that receiving a personal call from him will have an impact: It will wake people up from their stupor and get them to the polling stations to support him.