For the first time since announcing his entry into politics in January 2012, Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid finds himself leading Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the polls. A survey taken Sept. 6 and reported on by Channel 2 gives Lapid 24 mandates, if elections were held today, compared to 22 for Netanyahu and Likud.

While this does not automatically turn Lapid into the next prime minister, it does show that Lapid has successfully completed the most important mission he has faced in recent years: to become a legitimate candidate for the position of prime minister of Israel. Lapid is already there, in a big way. His place in the ring as rival contender to Netanyahu is assured. As they say in the world of sports, Lapid has made it to the finals.

On Aug. 28, Lapid organized a pro-Israel demonstration in the Swedish capital of Stockholm. Israeli media followed the event with glee. Lapid stood at a podium, opposite a handful of protesters, and forced people to repeat after him, “I love Israel,” over and over. He sharply criticized Sweden's foreign minister, Margot Wallstrom, who has accumulated quite a number of anti-Israeli statements under her belt. After that he begged the audience to post remarks on the Facebook page of Czech President Milos Zeman to protest Tel Aviv, and not Jerusalem, being identified as Israel’s capital on official Czech maps.

The media made mincemeat of Lapid over this, but it turns out he has the last laugh. Only about a year ago, Lapid was a dark-horse candidate with single-digit support in polls probing the suitability of candidates for the premiership. He has now become Netanyahu's only challenger to the throne.