Greatest threats to Netanyahu come from right
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has succeeded in eroding the Israeli political left, but in doing so alienated his own right wing as well.
The center left applauded former minister Gideon Saar this week when he announced that he had quit the Likud to form his own party, a reaction taken by some as further evidence that the center left is actively bringing about its own demise.
The poll results released yesterday, just one day after Saar declared his independence, told a hard truth: The Israeli right has never been stronger. Its three main parties are the Likud, Yamina and Saar’s new party, which is considered further right than Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu himself. There is also the Yisrael Beiteinu of Avigdor Liberman, who may have long abandoned the Netanyahu coalition but is still considered right. And of course, there are the two ultra-Orthodox parties, Yahadut HaTorah and Shas, which still maintain a close alliance with Netanyahu.
Paradoxically, though Saar and Yamina’s Naftali Bennett are at the forefront of the ideological campaign to annex West Bank territories, they are also drawing some voters from the center left as the only candidates who can bring Netanyahu down.
According to the Channel 13 poll, a vote now would give the right 80 seats, at least on paper. A Channel 12 poll produced similar results. It is a historic low for the center left, which held an advantage just two weeks ago. If elections do take place in the next few months and Netanyahu is defeated, he will likely be replaced by someone from the right.
