Limor Simhony Philpott

King Bibi’s pandemic problem

Benjamin Netanyahu (photo: Getty)

‘They are S-C-A-R-E-D’. So said Binyamin Netanyahu in a famous 1999 election campaign speech, referring to the media. Now he is the one who is scared. The political mastermind who has been Prime Minister for the past eleven years stands to lose his crown.

Israel’s political crisis of 2019-2020 saw three general elections without producing a clear winner. Eventually, asserting a need for national unity to combat the pandemic, Bibi masterfully managed to form a coalition under his leadership while dividing the main opposition party, Blue and White. Under the rotation agreement, Bibi is to step down after two years and be replaced by Blue and White leader, Benny Gantz. Most of the public cynically viewed this as a ploy, believing that Netanyahu will never honour the agreement.

If Bibi hoped that the pandemic would distract the public from the political turmoil and his legal problems, he was mistaken: his failure to control the spread of the virus, the inadequate planning, and a general sense of chaos and a lack of leadership, caused a major dip in his support.

A recent poll from Israel’s Channel 12 shows that Netanyahu’s Likud party would win 26 seats in the Knesset (down from their current 36) while Naftali Bennett’s right-wing Yamina party is a close second with 23 seats (up from 6). The Blue and White party have crashed from 32 to 9 seats. The charismatic Bennett has been luring Likud voters disappointed by Netanyahu’s self-serving policies and Blue and White voters who find Bennett sensible at a time of national crisis. This may not reflect any true election results – Yamina has far-right members that many in the centre-right will find it difficult to stomach – but the polls are alarming for Bibi, who has lost the public’s trust.

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