Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was apparently surprised himself by the extent of his victory in the 2015 elections. Not least because that very afternoon, the Likud headquarters was abuzz with rumors that the race against the Zionist Camp was tight, with both parties hovering around a projected 25 seats. Even Netanyahu never imagined a sweeping victory of 30 seats. As time passed, however, and the clock ticked down to the end of voting, he finally realized that he has actually managed to avoid a devastating loss that he himself initiated, and was on his way to his fourth term in office.

Netanyahu is, unquestionably, the biggest surprise of the 2015 elections. The election day momentum was all his, as was the emotional support of the nationalist camp that went out of its way to save his rule. Actually, he and his staff started seeing a return to the Likud by the end of last week. This was most apparent among voters for HaBayit HaYehudi, but it was also evident among the Likud’s traditional base. Something lit a spark under them.

These trends intensified as election day approached. Newspapers, TV news programs and the parties themselves all conducted their own polls. That was why, on election eve, the Zionist Camp pulled out its big announcement that co-leader Tzipi Livni was giving up on the rotation agreement for the premiership, as if it were a rabbit to be pulled out of a hat. They also saw their lead disappearing, even though on March 13, the last day that polls could be published, all indications were that the Zionist Camp still held its advantage.

Anyone expecting the collapse of the Likud to 19 seats or less was proven wrong. Likud Knesset members and ministers alike began reporting that their base was returning home. The phenomenon began with Netanyahu’s March 12 media blitz, during which he was interviewed on virtually every network and later every other platform, too. It was immediately evident that it was working. On Friday evening, for example, Knesset member Ayelet Shaked of HaBayit HaYehudi was the guest of a national-religious family living in one of the settlements. While she was there, she saw with her own eyes how votes were slipping away from her own party, straight to Netanyahu. Shaked, who is secular, left her religious hosts’ home and immediately placed an urgent call to one of the party leaders. “Netanyahu is sucking up all our seats. We’ll only get eight. It’s crazy!” she said. Once the Sabbath was over, HaBayit HaYehudi Chair Naftali Bennett reported the same phenomenon.