Will Bibi's speech to Congress help his campaign?

For the last two weeks, the Likud Party has been treating Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech to Congress as the decisive moment in the party’s election campaign. It hopes that the speech will stop the trickling away of seats, with the latest polls indicating that the Likud is approaching the 20-seat line. If it dips below that in the March 17 elections, it's safe to assume that Netanyahu will not be the next prime minister.

Meanwhile, according to preliminary surveys, Netanyahu’s momentary takeover of the national agenda, by diverting attention from the housing crisis and the scandal surrounding his official residence on Balfour Street to Iran’s nuclear program instead, managed to stop votes seeping away from the Likud and apparently even slightly strengthen it. A Channel 10 survey show between the Zionist Camp with 23 seats — and the Likud also with 23.

Netanyahu can also take comfort in the fact that the Zionist Camp and its leader Isaac Herzog haven’t been gaining in the polls, either. They continue to plod along with some 23 seats, unable to break ahead of the Likud to ensure that they form the next government.

Herzog’s speech March 3 to the residents of settlements surrounding Gaza was composed as a tactical response to the speech that Netanyahu gave about an hour earlier in Washington. The Zionist Camp was concerned that Netanyahu would succeed in limiting his negative momentum among the public. In the end, however, the result of Herzog's tactic was more harmful than helpful. By accusing Netanyahu of delivering a serious blow to US-Israel relations, Herzog looked like he was trying to keep up with Netanyahu’s agenda. Furthermore, his attacks against Netanyahu while the prime minister was on official business in the United States might easily be interpreted by the moderate right as irresponsible.