Posted on 03/15/2015 2:33:11 PM PDT by Star Traveler
Jerusalem (AFP) - Three days ahead of Israel's general election, there was growing uncertainty Saturday over who will win the premiership, with polls showing incumbent Benjamin Netanyahu trailing his centre-left rivals.
The final two surveys released Friday night by private television channels gave the Zionist Union, headed by Labour leader Isaac Herzog, a four-seat lead over Netanyahu's Likud.
A poll by Channel 10 showed Likud winning 20 seats, compared with 24 for the Zionist Union, while a survey issued by Channel 2 also showed Likud four seats behind, 22 to 26.
The results echoed surveys released earlier Friday -- the final day that opinion polls could legally be published before Tuesday's election -- which both predicted a win for the Zionist Union.
Netanyahu has warned that a win by the Zionist Union -- a coalition of Herzog's Labour party and centrist HaTnuah of former chief peace negotiator with the Palestinians Tzipi Livni -- would affect security.
On Thursday he told the Jerusalem Post daily that a Zionist Union victory "will cause such a monumental shift in policy that it is a danger, and anyone who wants to stop it has to vote Likud to narrow the gap."
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Many have their own idea of who is PERFECT and so "split the vote" causing Netanyahu to lose, because in their view Netanyahu is not "good enough"
We lose like that in the USA, too!
you need to know about Israeli elections but were afraid to ask
http://www.haaretz.com/news/israel-election-2015/1.646418
Is Netanyahu About to Lose the Election? [Israel]
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3267392/posts
Netanyahu Slips in Polls Days Before Israeli Elections
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3267231/posts
Is Netanyahu a goner? [Zionist Union Pulling Ahead of Likud in Israeli’s Latest Polls]
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3267573/posts
Netanyahu lags centre-left in last polls before Israel vote
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3267625/posts
Is This the Man Who Could Beat Netanyahu and Become Israel’s Next PM?
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/3267701/posts
Zionist Union Maintains Advantage in Final Polls
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3267769/posts
Netanyahu legacy on the line in Israeli vote
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3268146/posts
The takedown of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by American Congress
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/3268137/posts
Israel’s Leftist Dreams Will End In Nightmare
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3268168/posts
Do Israelis Really Think the U.S. Will Come to Their Aid?
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/3268155/posts
How is that a problem with party list proportional representation? Are conservatives voting for parties that are gonna come in below the threshold?
Netanyahu is saying it’s a problem if others vote for “those who they think are better” because it will bring the opposition to be in control. He’s saying “vote for us” or this is what is gong to happen.
You got it.
‘Purity’ is not a problem in the Israeli system. It’s not really like elections here.
Wrongo, what Bibi is saying is that giving away land for peace is a fool’s errand. The more land Israel gives away, the better Israel’s enemy is able to launch military offensives. What he is saying is, don’t give the zionist’s power to break off more bits of Israel for a fantasized peace... it will never happen. Never fear though, God is the protector of Israel, though He allows her to be chastised, He will never abandon her to be gobbled up by Islamism and the nations of the world... it is called Bible prophecy.
The answer might be in the Prophets, if certain times have come. Changes happen not only between nations but within nations. For example, where might investors keep their money in the near future? And is it a good idea for one to gossip about neighbors who don’t look so good on the outside? Only talking about things in general here and no person or group in particular. Time will tell, until there is no time.
That doesn’t answer my question.
The only way voting for other right-of-center parties can hurt Bibi is if:
1)The parties fail to reach the threshold, making them wasted votes
2)The parties refuse to enter into a coalition with Bibi, letting the left take over instead, in that’s the case these parties aren’t my idea of conservatives. Kulanu for example, is hardly a more conservative choice than Likud.
Which, if either, proposition is true?
It seems to me, from looking at the polls, that the problem is swing voters, not disaffected conservatives.
More encouraging news. Prime Minister Netanyahu’s offer to the other party was wise, in my opinion.
100,000 at Nationalist Rally, Say Organizers (2 days before Israeli election)
http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3268204/posts
Encourage all the dual Israeli-US to vote!
Neither of those two points are likely to be true.
On the right, the main fringe party/candidate would be Moshe Feiglin, who is not contesting this election. Not many ‘wasted’ votes.
On the subject of conservatives refusing to enter a coalition, I believe the parties declare that before the election so the President can better determine who to ask to form a government (it doesn’t have to be the largest party). They are willing. The problem is with Netanyahu not wanting them, or not being willing to pay their price.
Hey ... it’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who is saying that ... in a rally for the right ... in which he says to vote for him in order to close up the gap. You’ll have to ask him what he’s thinking ... :-) ...
See post #13 ...
Yep. Voting for a party other than Likud is a gamble in the sense that your party might be frozen out of the governing coalition.
The outgoing Knesset had about 63 (out of 120) more or less on the Right. Polls on the incoming Knesset seem to indicate a gain of a couple seats on the Right.
Netanyahu’s gambling too. Did he have to?
Netanyahu is saying that by saying that if they close up the gap, that the President of Israel may choose Netanyahu to form the coalition government. That pretty much what Netanyahu said.
Judging from the parties that “have not ruled out nominating a Netanyahu coalition,” Netanyahu will likely be asked to form another coalition.
That’s a big IF, of course, and there certainly could be surprises, but polls indicate the Knesset division won’t change much even if the PM changes.
Should Netanyahu have tried harder to work with the Right instead of with Livni and Lapid?
I really like Netanyahu, but there are others, even in his own party who don’t like him. In spite of them not liking him, Netanyahu has been able to pull off governing Israel for quite a while ... which is quite a feat. But, he may be reaching the end ...
Likud officials blame Netanyahu for poor poll results
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3268233/posts
Officials in PM’s party aren’t waiting for the election results: To them, it’s already clear the campaign was a ‘colossal failure,’ thanks to Netanyahu.
Likud officials aren’t waiting for the election results. On Wednesday, following less than favorable polls, senior officials labeled the election campaign a failure, and blamed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the party’s poor showing in the polls ahead of Election Day on Tuesday.
“The Zionist Union will be larger than Likud after the election. This, it seems, is already a fact. The question is what the gap between the two will be. Even if we manage to form the next government, this campaign was a colossal failure. Netanyahu is primarily responsible,” said a senior Likud member.
“Everything went through him during this election season, and the situation isn’t good. The election campaign didn’t function. Netanyahu kept Likud ministers far from decisions,” the senior party figure said. “His excessive focus [on himself in the campaign] and his lack of faith in the party’s Knesset members prompted him to staff the campaign with people who haven’t proven themselves.”
Another Likud official said, “Netanyahu was shown to be a very weak card in this election. He decided to put himself at the front, and forgot that he has an excellent team of ministers and MKs behind him. The public hardly saw them. It turns out the public is weary of Netanyahu, but he didn’t think that was a good enough reason to scale back his presence in the campaign.”
Z Union is already larger than Likud before the election.
That’s probably why many in his party, Likud, are mad at him. I don’t know whether that’s fair of them to be mad at Netanyahu, because I don’t think any of them could have done any better!
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