Likud in Danger, Bibi to be Blamed
Local Editor
With four days to go ahead of vote, Netanyahu's Likud suffered blow in polls, receiving only 22 Knesset seats, while Herzog's Zionist Union reached 26; Bayit Yehudi and Yesh Atid tied at 12, a pre-election poll revealed.
With his Likud party trailing in the polls ahead of elections, "Israeli" Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu acknowledged that "there's a real danger" he would be ousted as prime minister.
Though Netanyahu is articulate and dashing, he is distrusted by friends and foes alike. Nicolas Sarkozy, a former French president, was once heard telling US President Barack Obama: "I can't stand him. He's a liar"; Obama did not demur.
However, the "Israeli" prime minister's failures outweighed his achievements. Likud officials were not waiting for the election results.
Following less than favorable polls, senior officials labeled the election campaign a failure, and blamed Netanyahu for the party's poor showing in the polls ahead of Election Day on Tuesday.
"The Zionist Union will be larger than Likud after the election. This, it seems, is already a fact. The question is what the gap between the two will be," a senior Likud member stated.
He continued, "Even if we manage to form the next government, this campaign was a colossal failure. Netanyahu is primarily responsible".
The senior party figure explained that "Everything went through him during this election season, and the situation isn't good. The election campaign didn't function. Netanyahu kept Likud ministers far from decisions".
He also blamed the PM saying that "His excessive focus [on himself in the campaign] and his lack of faith in the party's Knesset members prompted him to staff the campaign with people who haven't proven themselves".
But Likud members did not think all was lost. "As of right now, Netanyahu is the only one who can forge an independent coalition based on the latest polls" said one party official.
He added, "Herzog will have to include Likud in his government if he's asked to form a coalition, and Netanyahu has already said he won't allow that".
In an attempt to reverse the party's downward trend in the polls, Netanyahu decided to grant interviews to Zionist media Channels 1 and 2, as well as the Walla website, after refusing to do so for weeks.
He called on right-wing voters who had shifted to other parties to return to Likud to prevent the emergence of a left-wing government.
Regarding the recent polls, which showed Likud running three seats behind Zionist Union, Netanyahu said there was a chance he won't be prime minister again.
"If we don't close the gaps in the coming days, there's definitely a danger that Bougie Herzog and Tzipi Livni will be the prime ministers," but said he would win if enough of his supporters get out and vote.
Moreover, Bibi declined to say he would leave politics if he was unable to form a government after Tuesday's balloting. But behind the scenes, Likud members were already jostling to be the heir apparent.
"There are enough candidates in Likud who aren't excited about the prospect of an election win, and who are actually waiting for Netanyahu to lose, in the hope of inheriting his place and running for prime minister in the next election," said one party member.
In a related notion and in fear of not getting re-elected, Bibi protested that tens of millions of dollars had been funneled from European states and from left-wingers overseas to prevent his re-election.
He insisted that "There are governments that want to bring down the right; they oppose me".
Netanyahu also spoke of a major "coalition" of forces, including parts of the "Israeli" media, who were seeking to oust the Zionist right from power and install a government that would relinquish territory to the Palestinians.
On the other hand, Bibi ruled out the notion of sharing the prime minister in a unity government with Zionist Union. "I won't rotate the premiership," Netanyahu vowed. "It must be prevented."
"Israeli" analysts predicted that although Netanyahu and his Likud party might come in second after the Zionist Union, they were well poised to form a center-right government and remain in power.
Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team
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