Early Life

Bachar was born and raised in Beit Shean, a town in the north of Israel.   He is the only son of Fibi and Shabtai Bachar.  Bachar studied at Ort Beit Shean High School and did his bagrut in Biology.   After high school, Bachar served in the Golani Brigade, an infantry unit in the Israeli Defense Forces.  
 

Academic Education 

Bachar graduated with a bachelor’s degree in political science and communication from Bar-Ilan University, and earned an MA in Communications from Fordham University in New York.  In his master’s program, Bachar concentrated on political campaigns, marketing strategy and message design.   

 

Business and Industry Consulting

As part of his activities as a marketing strategist, Bachar advises businesses and public entities in strategic marketing and rebranding.  Netive Israel, Mekorot, Leviathan (the national gas project) and Noble Energy are among Bachar’s current or previous clients.   In addition, Bachar provided long-term strategic marketing support for companies such as Discount Bank, Bank Hapoalim, Partner Communications, Chevron, Assuta, N.T.A. (light rail(, the Ministry of Defense, Enlight Energy and others.

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Bachar served in the past as joint CEO of the Kamir-Bachar company, a consulting firm whose client’s included Bank Hapoalim, Nobel Energy, Discount Bank, Enlight Energy and several public figures.   

 

Political Campaigns

After finishing his master’s, Bachar stayed in New York and worked on political campaigns.   In September 2005, he returned to Israel and began working in the political arena in Israel.  As chief strategist, Bachar managed four campaigns for the Prime Ministership:  the Likud led by 

Netanyahu in 2009 and three election campaigns for Blue and White, twice in 2019 and once in 2020.

 

The Netanyahu 2009 PM Campaign and the “Bloc” Strategy

In 2006, Binyamin Netanyahu, Likuid chairman and opposition leader, hired Bachar as a strategist for the Likud.   In the elections held earlier that year, the Likud party experienced a crushing defeat and won only 12 mandates.  After the elections, Bachar joined Netanyahu’s professional team as a research and strategy consultant. Bachar spearheaded the campaign to increase the power of the Likud for the next election.  In 2007, Bachar devised the “bloc” strategy which was used for the first time in Israel. The strategy proposed a significant shift from the current mindset in Israeli politics. Instead of focusing primarily on the number of mandates for the individual party, Bachar proposed that the objective should be on receiving the authorization from the President to form the government, which is generally given to the party that gets the most recommendations from all the political parties.  

Bachar’s strategy focused on establishing a large right-wing electoral block that would ensure the formation of the government by the Likud, even if the largest left-wing party, Kadima, received a higher number of mandates.  

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In the 2009 elections, the bloc’s strategy proved to be a winner and led to the formation of a government headed by Netanyahu, even though the Likud received one less mandate than the Kadima party.   Netanyahu galvanized 65 Knesset members to recommend him for Prime Minister, and on March 31, 2009 Netanyahu became the Prime Minister of Israel[8]. Bachar advised Prime Minister Netanyahu until the end of 2011.

 

The Return of Aryeh Deri to Politics 2012 -2013

At the end of thirteen years of political exile, the former minister Aryeh Deri was allowed to return to politics.   Bachar began to serve as a campaign strategist for Deri’s reentry to politics and to the leadership of the Shas movement.  

Bachar managed to secure Aryeh Deri’s leadership of the Shas party ahead of the 2013 elections for the Nineteenth Knesset.  

 

Presenting a three-way leadership led by Aryeh Deri, Ariel Atias and Eli Yishai[10], proved to be a winning solution and the Shas received 331,868 votes, a 14% increase in votes from the 2009 election.  
 

Establishment of Moshe Kahlon’s party “Kulanu” 2015

Bachar built the strategy for Moshe Kahlon’s Kulanu party, a new party established in preparation for the elections of the 20th Knesset in 2015.   Bachar initiated the “Kahlon to the Treasury” campaign, while emphasizing Kahlon’s social and humanitarian values. This messaging was highly effective with Yesh Atid voters, the party headed by outgoing Minister of Finance Yair Lapid. In the elections, the new “Kulanu” party reached a record achievement of ten mandates.  

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The Establishment of Blue and White and the Strategy of the “Big Party”
 

In July 2018, Bachar began to advise former Chief of Staff Benny Gantz. In preparation for the elections to the twenty-first ~Knesset, together they founded  “Hosen for Israel”, but three days before the closing of the list for Knesset Bachar designed a new strategy:  “The Big Party”.   Bachar initiated the establishment of “Blue and White”, which consisted of three parties:  Hosen for Israel, Yesh Atid and Telem, so overnight a real governing alternative to Likud arose. The elections ended in electoral equality (35 mandates for each of the parties). An unprecedented win for a new party.   

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The Elections to the 22nd Knesset 

During the campaign for the 22nd Knesset elections in the second half of 2019, Bachar devised as a pivotal strategy the “Secular Unity Government” campaign.

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In this campaign, Blue and White defeated the Likud in terms of mandates (33 mandates to Likud’s 32 mandates), as well as in the number of votes it received. In fact, the campaign set a record for the largest number of votes ever received by a party in Israel at that time: 1,151,214.

 

The Elections for the 23rd Knesset

The campaign strategy was to preserve the number of Blue and White voters and prevent the Likud and the right-wing bloc from achieving 61 or more mandates.

Although Blue and White received an additional 70,000 votes from the previous election, the number of mandates remained the same at 33 compared to an increase for the Likud at 36. As a result, a unity government was formed headed by Benjamin Netanyahu and alternative Prime Minister Benny Gantz. According to the agreement, Netanyahu would serve as Prime Minister first and Gantz would become Prime Minister in November 2021.   

 

The Elections for the 25th Knesset

In 2022, the Shas Party hired Bachar to run its campaign.   Bachar choose to reposition Shas as a party most concerned with the social issues of Israeli society as well as a party who is focused on Jewish identity and Israeliness in the Zionist sense.  This message resonated with nontraditional Shas voters and translated into a the most successful campaign for the Shas party. The campaign was praised for its creativity and humor, as well as its winning strategy.
 

Shas increased its Mk seats to 11, and received a record high of almost 400,000 votes. Shas became the second largest party in the coalition following the Likud. 

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Early Work Experience

Israeli Consulate of New York

While completing his MA, Bachar worked in the communications department at the Israeli Consulate in New York.  

Sheinkoph Communications, New York

Bachar worked at Sheinkoph Communications Ltd., a strategic communications firm in New York City.  During his time at Sheinkoph, Bachar gained valuable experience working  on local, mayoral and state campaigns. 

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Personal Life 

Bachar is married to Rachel, and they have three daughters.   

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