Israel elections: rising panic in Likud ranks as opposition gains momentum

[blacken700]

Source: The Guardian

-Polls indicate growing lead for Zionist Union led by Isaac Herzog over Binyamin Netanyahu’s party with less than a week before vote -

Israel’s opposition leader, Isaac Herzog, appears to be gaining momentum in the runup to next week’s general election, triggering a rising sense of panic in Likud, the party of the prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu.

Two new polls suggest a lead of three to four parliamentary seats for the Zionist Union, with internal polling from both parties indicating a wider gap.

A text message sent to Likud activists, imploring them them to get out friends and relatives to vote on Tuesday, reads: “We are in danger of really losing!”

It goes on: “We must save the day and make sure that every single one of our friends/acquaintances/family makes it to the polls on election day and votes for the Likud. Wake up!”



Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/11/israel-elections-rising-panic-in-likud-ranks-as-opposition-gains-momentum



Apparently the snubbing of the American Presidency and a bald faced and transparent campaign speech to a foreign legislative body intended to circumnavigate Israeli campaign and election finance law turned out to be not that popular in Israel.

What the GOP is really doing is also panicking at the prospect of a Likud loss....the #47Traitors letter was not targetted just at Obama, it was also targetted at the Israeli elections, a logical and equally treacherous follow up to the free televised election campaign speech the Likud Party leader gave to Congress.

Even Sheldon Adelson's purchase of a major Israeli newspaper to be the mouthpiece of Bibi will not be enough.

The Israel election is next week......understand that and you understand better.

[GigantorX]

Obama has advisers on the ground in Israel actively and openly working with the opposition parties, it looks like that may be moving the meter a bit.

Hey, at least Obama can openly interfere in international elections and be (somewhat) successful at it. It seems that this may be the only foreign policy "victory" he gets during his 8 years in office.

Shame it has to come at the expense of our only ally in the Middle East.

[blacken700]

Netanyahu's Main Challenger Widens Lead In Israeli Pre-Election Poll - Reuters/HuffPo
 
 
 

   
 Netanyahu's Main Challenger Widens Lead In Israeli Pre-Election Poll
By Jeffrey Heller - Reuters
Posted: 03/12/2015 2:47 pm EDT Updated: 56 minutes ago

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JERUSALEM, March 12 (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu launched a last-minute media blitz on Thursday to counter what appears to be a rising tide of support for his main opponent in next week's election, the centrist Zionist Union.

The latest opinion polls show momentum shifting to Zionist Union after weeks of running neck-and-neck with Netanyahu's right-wing Likud, and the premier again warned voters who have abandoned his party for like-minded challengers that without their votes, he could lose.

Forecast to win up to 24 seats to Likud's 21 in the 120-member parliament, Zionist Union hopes the gap will be wide enough to persuade Israel's president to ask its leader, Labor party chief Isaac Herzog, rather than Netanyahu, to try to form a coalition government after Tuesday's balloting.

"If we don't close the gap in the coming days, there is certainly a risk that Tzipi Livni and Bougie Herzog will be the next prime ministers," Netanyahu told Channel 2 in one of two primetime television interviews, using Herzog's nickname.

Under his Zionist Union alliance with centrist Livni, Herzog would serve as Israel's leader for two years and then hand over to the country's most prominent woman politician for the remainder of their government's slated four-year term.

Netanyahu also ruled out the possibility of forming a broad coalition after the election that would include a leadership rotation between him and Herzog.

In the right-leaning Jerusalem Post and the Israel Hayom free sheet, an ardent supporter, Netanyahu focused his message on Israelis who want him as prime minister but plan to vote for his potential partners in a Likud-led coalition.

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More: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/03/12/israel-election-poll_n_6857626.html