Israel’s Lapid soars in polls but has no camp behind him
Recent polls show growing electoral support for Prime Minister Yair Lapid, even though parties within the center-left camp might chose to back his rival Defense Minister Benny Gantz.
Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid broke his personal records in the polls over the last few weeks. He was able to reduce the gap between him and opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu, who suffered a slight decline in support. A few of the polls give Lapid as many as 25 seats.
Nevertheless, despite this impressive achievement, Lapid is facing a challenge to his leadership from within his own center-left camp, while Netanyahu is the only candidate of the right-wing ultra-Orthodox bloc. In contrast, Lapid has a competitor.
Defense Minister Benny Gantz, who heads the National Unity party, has declared himself a candidate for the job of prime minister, even if the polls predict that he will win just 12-14 seats.
What this means is that Lapid and Gantz are political rivals in every way in the current election. Furthermore, it is likely that after the election, the National Unity party will recommend Gantz to the president as the candidate best able to form a new government.
