As Zionist Camp leader Isaac Herzog wages a daily, uphill battle for survival within his own party, a Channel 2 survey has dealt him an additional blow. A Sept. 6 poll indicated that Yesh Atid would take the lead as the strongest party in the opposition if elections were held today. Although only a survey, and with elections nowhere on the horizon, this poll has seized the agenda like no other.

For a brief moment during the 2015 election cycle, Herzog had been viewed as a possible alternative to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with the Zionist Camp garnering 24 Knesset seats. Now, however, Herzog heads a party predicted by the poll to win only 13 of the Knesset’s 120 seats. Although Herzog is the current de facto head of the opposition, by virtue of those 24 (real, not virtual) seats in the latest elections, when the Knesset returns from its summer recess in October for the winter session, all eyes will be on Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid as an alternative to Netanyahu.

So what is it about this opinion poll that continues to create such a stir and generate headlines days after its announcement? How dramatic is it, in fact, and worrying for the prime minister? Is it yet another example of wishful thinking on the part of some in the media who want to build up Lapid as an alternative to Netanyahu just as some did in exalting Herzog during the last election campaign? Even if one takes the approach adopted by Netanyahu and his people that “there’s no reason to get excited over a survey,” as posted on the Likud's Facebook page, the results are undoubtedly major news.

For the first time since the 2015 elections, Netanyahu’s Likud has lost its place, on paper, as the biggest party in the Knesset, reduced to a barely medium-sized party. This is a major personal achievement for Lapid, who through hard, targeted work, superb campaigning skills and precision strategy has proven it possible to put a dent in Netanyahu, who since his dizzying 2015 election victory has been walking around with the air that he’ll be around forever. Lapid has cracked Netanyahu's image of invincibility and now faces him as a serious challenger.