Israel’s opposition bloc loses momentum amid leadership dispute — Jerusalem Post

In Israel, the opposition “change bloc” is losing electoral momentum amid disputes between its leaders over nominating a candidate for prime minister. This was stated in an Jerusalem Post opinion column, which describes the disagreements as a factor weakening the positions of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s opponents.

Different approaches to the campaign

Gadi Eisenkot advocates uniting around a single candidate for head of government. In his view, this could give voters a clear alternative to the current government. The column’s author writes that Yair Golan also considers a direct contest between Eisenkot and Netanyahu to be more effective.

Avigdor Lieberman and former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, by contrast, support several contenders taking part. They believe this could attract supporters of different parties, who would vote for a political force so that its leader has a chance to head the government.

Under Bennett’s approach described in the column, the final decision on the party’s candidate could be made after the election. The author criticizes this model because, in his view, voters should understand in advance the rules for determining the future head of government.

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Polling figures

According to the data cited in the column, several months ago the “change bloc” could count on about 60 seats in the Knesset, excluding Arab parties. It is now estimated at 52–54 out of 120 seats.

The author attributes part of the change in the figures to Ofer Winter’s entry into politics, the alliance of Bezalel Smotrich and Moshe Feiglin, and the reunification of Arab political forces. At the same time, in his assessment, even taking these factors into account, the bloc has likely lost several more seats.

As an option for resolving the dispute, the author proposes agreeing in advance that the leader of the largest party in the opposition bloc will become prime minister. Participants in such an alliance would have to commit to recommending this person to the president, while each leader could conduct a separate campaign.