Opposition Picks Up Momentum in Race to Unseat Netanyahu

Running on a theme focused more on determination to unseat incumbent Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu than on specific issues, Israel’s Labor Party, running in concert with another left wing party, has the advantage of momentum according to the latest poll. In the Israeli system, in which voters cast ballots for parties rather than people and the percentage of votes received determines the number of seats in the 120-seat parliament, the head of the party that wins the greatest number of seats is charged by the president to form a governing coalition of 61 or more – if the president believes that party has the best chance of forming that coalition. In the latest survey, Prime Minister Netanyahu trails by 3 seats (26 – 23) in his quest for an unprecedented fourth term at the helm of the government. Netanyahu’s Likud Party still has two days to cut a joint-list deal with a right-wing party that would virtually assure him of another term, but so far there is no indication that it will happen. When asked who is best qualified to serve as prime minister, Israelis nevertheless chose Netanyahu by a margin of 44.5% to 34.5% over Labor head Isaac Herzog.