The center left applauded former minister Gideon Saar this week when he announced that he had quit the Likud to form his own party, a reaction taken by some as further evidence that the center left is actively bringing about its own demise.
The poll results released yesterday, just one day after Saar declared his independence, told a hard truth: The Israeli right has never been stronger. Its three main parties are the Likud, Yamina and Saar’s new party, which is considered further right than Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu himself. There is also the Yisrael Beiteinu of Avigdor Liberman, who may have long abandoned the Netanyahu coalition but is still considered right. And of course, there are the two ultra-Orthodox parties, Yahadut HaTorah and Shas, which still maintain a close alliance with Netanyahu.
