Minister of Finance Yair Lapid's Yesh Atid continues to lose ground, in the latest poll by Rafi Smith for "Globes". Yesh Atid would win 12 Knesset seats were elections held now, two seats less than in the previous poll in July, and down from the 19 seats in the elections in February.
Lapid is not collapsing just because the Ministry of Finance is a shredder of Knesset seats (the Likud lost 12 seats after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's stint at the ministry), and not just because he is not seen as an authority on economics. It is a collection of factors: his controversial remarks about Schnausers, the cuts in welfare payments, tax hikes, and other austerity measures, his posts on Facebook, and his childish behavior which he thinks is rascally.
The latest poll shows that Yesh Atid voters, the Schnausers, want their leaders to be statesmanlike, not rascals with gimmicks. The Finance Minister's job is too important for nice guy, and the Schnausers are looking for a new guiding light. Yesh Atid has no hard core supporters like the Likud and Labor Party. Its voters are individuals with very little loyalty.
Both Likud and the Labor Party are unchanged compared with the July poll, at 33 Knesset seats and 18 seats, respectively. (Likud won 31 seats in the elections and Labor won 15 seats). Minister of the Economy Naftali Bennett's Habayit Hayehudi is also unchanged at 13 seats, one more than it won in the elections.
The two seats lost by Yesh Atid in the August poll went to Meretz and Minister of Justice Tzipi Livni's Hatnua, which gained one seat each, compared with the July poll, boosting Meretz to 11 seats (up from six seats in the elections), and Hatnua to four seats (compared with six seats in the election).
The August poll also shows Shas losing one seat in favor of United Torah Judaism.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on August 29, 2013
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