This week, which began well for the Habayit Hayehudi party and its leader Naftali Bennett and badly for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, ended the other way around. For the first time since the elections, a political ploy by Bennett resulted in failure. The latest poll conducted by Rafi Smith for "Globes" shows a reversal in the trend, and the consistent rise by Habayit Hayehudi in the polls since the last elections has been halted, with the party dropping from 15 projected Knesset seats to 13.
Bennett, who came out against the government's decision to release Palestinian prisoners, played a double game: he tried to sit in the government as if there were no prisoner release, and to attack the release as if he was not a member of the government. This turned out to be a mistake. Not only did the public not buy the double game, but he himself failed to reckon with the blitz launched upon him from all sides, from right and left, from the media and from politicians.
Bennett's behavior is only a symptom of the bad blood, the unwholesome political relationships, underlying the present coalition. Netanyahu and Bennett can work together, promoting joint projects and making decisions, but the personal animosity that has existed between them for over five years, ever since Bennett left or was ejected from Netanyahu's staff, has not relented for a moment.
Another politician whose maneuverings have rebounded on him is Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Liberman. The candidate to whom he gave high profile backing in the Jerusalem municipal elections, Moshe Leon, failed to oust incumbent mayor Nir Barkat, and the poll shows that if Yisrael Beytenu were to dissolve its alliance with Likud, it would win only seven Knesset seats. But from here, he could well take off again. The verdict in his corruption trial is due next week, after which he will either reclaim the foreign affairs portfolio, or be faced with staging a difficult comeback.
Meanwhile, Yesh Atid has stemmed the ebbing tide, while, on the left, Meretz continues its steady, quiet advance.
Poll results
If elections were held today, for which party would you vote?
Results are in terms of Knesset seats. The first number is the result in the current poll, the second is the result of the previous poll in September, and the number in parentheses is actual seats won in the last general election
Likud-Beytenu 34 34 (31)
Yesh Atid 12 12 (19)
Habayit Hayehudi 13 15 (12)
Labor 17 16 (15)
Shas 12 11 (11)
United Torah Judaism 7 8 (7)
Hatenuah 3 3 (6)
Meretz 11 10 (6)
Hadash 4 4 (4)
Ra'am-Ta'al 4 3 (4)
National Democratic Assembly 3 3 (3)
The survey found that if Likud and Yisrael Beytenu were to split, then Likud would win 24 seats and Yisrael Beytenu 7, while Shas would rise to 13 seats and Habayit Hayehudi to 14.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on October 31, 2013
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2013