Former Israeli Prime Minister Running as Re-Tread Fails to Ignite Much Voter Interest

Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak left office in March 2001 bearing the historical footnote that no one ever held the position for less time. In 1999, Barak had defeated Binyamin Netanyahu, but was soon to be displaced by the late Ariel Sharon. But unlike Netanyahu, who returned to office in March 2009 to begin a reign that still continues ten years later having won four consecutive general elections, polling completed in the aftermath of Barak’s phoenix-like rise from the ashes of his past defeats leaves an open question of whether he can garnish enough support to reach the 3.67 percent of all voters in order for his party to be seated in the new government. Apparently saving the big moves for the campaign, Barak did release the name of the party-in-formation: it will be known as Yisrael Democratit, or Israel’s Democratic Party. Critics are already complaining that the name implies non-members as being non-democratic, reminiscent of the Zionist Union, which, it turned out, failed to get a boost from its name.