The Israeli peace camp can defeat the right in the next election, facing a prime minister the police have already recommended for indictment in at least two cases of bribery and may yet face additional ones by the next election. Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit may actually decide to indict him by then. They are also facing a minister of welfare (Haim Katz, also of the Likud) who is expected to stand trial for bribery pending a hearing. And then there is Interior Minister Aryeh Deri, a convicted criminal who already served time in prison and yet, much to the country’s shame, returned to the government and even to the ministry where he first committed his crime, only to be investigated again for additional crimes. It would be hard for the current coalition to ask the public for its trust for another four years.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is far from enjoying the support of a majority of the country. He relies on the backing of about a quarter of the public to form a very narrow coalition. Because he is dependent on the smaller parties, he has a hard time fulfilling his promises. In the past, his electoral defeats were always a knockout, while his victories came down to a sparse few points.
