At the beginning of August, a comprehensive study on changes and trends in Israeli public opinion was prepared for Yesh Atid Chairman Yair Lapid by his American strategic adviser, Mark Mellman. Mellman is the one who created Lapid’s successful strategy in the 2013 elections, thus attracting 19 mandates to his party. In the current study, Mellman was asked to produce findings that would sharpen Lapid’s strategic line in a way that would transform him into the only alternative to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and right-wing rule.
While conducting his research, Mellman predicted Lapid’s giant leap in the polls and the transformation of his party to the largest one in the polls. This prediction was indeed confirmed later in a poll by Channel 2, published on Sept. 6. In addition, Mellman’s assessment was that Lapid has even greater potential than that.