Netanyahu is in Panic on the Eve of Elections

• 03.12.2015, 14:52
•  Near East,  World

Photo from BBC

"We are really in danger of losing! 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. Otherwise we will suffer a left-wing government made up of Meretz [a Left-wing party] and the Arabs. Wake up!" - this is the statement made by the supporters of  ruling Likud party made on the eve of election which clearly expresses their fears on the results of upcoming elections, the Telegraph reports.

The fears of the ruling party at this period of time, when less than a week is left before upcoming general elections on March 17, are not baseless. The poll conducted by Channel 2 News showed that Netanyahu's Likud party is three to four seats behind the opposite Zionist movement an alliance of Isaac Herzog's Labour party and Hatnua, led by Tzipi Livni, a former Foreign Minister. Such a change in pre-election development is explained by the fact that the assumption that Netanyahu will manage to form a stable coalition with right-wing and religious parties, seems not to be realistic.

This fact became obvious on Wednesday when Yair Lapid, former Finance Minister and the leader of the centrist Yesh Atid party, for the first time declared that he is not going to support the ruling party. On the occasion Yesh Atid particularly noted:

"There is no possibility that we will recommend Netanyahu. Everyone understands that, because I think that he should not be the next prime minister. He needs to understand that things have changed," - the Telegraph quotes the words of former Finance Minister.

On the contrary to the defeatist mood present among the representatives of the ruling party there is a strong positive outlook among the representatives of the Zionist Union. This positive outlook was expressed even vividly during the Unions’ rally at Beersheba's Leonardo Hotel.  In his speech during the rally Erel Margalit, a Labour MP particularly noted: "It makes me more optimistic than I was a few weeks ago. The sense of victory and change is in the air."  In his turn Livni noticed: "We are here because of an understanding that we cannot leave this country in the hands of Netanyahu," – the Telegraph reports.

Judging for the pre-election developments in Israel it seems that active efforts of the present Prime Minister, Netanyahu,  which was vividly expressed in his recent activities, for example to radicalize its stance on Israeli-Palestinian conflict or on Iranian nuclear negotiation,  yielded no positives results, just the contrary - it even worsened his stance both domestically and on the international arena, the proof of which is recent deteriorated relations between US President Obama and Netanyahu.