Political Commentary

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s resounding win was an equally ringing failure for Blue and White and Benny Gantz. The people have spoken.

Yamina's internal polls show seven, maybe eight mandates. Barring any last-second slippage, these are the numbers the party expects to attain.

If the center-left loses its chance to government, Benny Gantz won’t be able to look his voters in the eye. A unity government, with Netanyahu recusing himself for the length of his trial, would be a better option.

The members of the center-left list under Benny Gantz can’t even agree where they stand on fundamental issues. How can Blue and White lead a government comprised of partners whose ideologies fundamentally contradict each other’s?

The media plays down recorded criticism of one of Benny Gantz’s closest advisors and is quick to blame Netanyahu and the Likud for any and every dirty election trick that might be played.

Right-wing voters, left-wing voters, those for whom issues of religion and state are important, will make a mistake in voting for Yisrael Beytenu because it has turned into a party whose political position is unknown.

For now, there is no feasible way of having a government that can join hands with the Arab parties because they reject the very core of who we are.

Right-wing voters must not think that if they do not come to the polling stations on March 2 they are not casting a ballot. They will be, in fact, voting for the Left.

In a bid to move the needle in his favor, PM Netanyahu has spent the final weeks of the campaign handing out political gestures to various groups in the right-wing bloc, including announcing plans to build thousands of homes across Judea and Samaria.

The prime minister may find that procrastinating on applying Israeli sovereignty  to the Jordan valley and the large settlement blocs in Judea and Samaria may backfire in the polls come March 2.