I was in the Knesset twice last week. An unusual matter that allowed me a lot of time for corridor conversations.
A senior Likud conference member told me this week what appears to be a matter of principle in the entire dizzying campaign ahead of us: "Kahlon will say clearly - is he with or against Bibi. If he entered politics to overthrow Netanyahu, he will come clean and say he will not sit with him in the government. As long as he does not say this explicitly, people understand that Netanyahu will also be Kahlon's prime minister, and Kahlon will sit by his side in the next government."
Indeed, these are the words of a Likud MK who understands that his party's situation is dire and wants to push Kahlon into a corner.
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Many surveys published In recent days They show a very strong sentiment among the Israeli public that wants to see Netanyahu out of the Prime Minister's office. This is gratifying to a certain extent, because it means that Israeli democracy is functioning.
If there is anything that is disturbing in the last six years of government, it is the concept of the lack of an alternative. This is not true in any situation, governments, municipalities, government ministries - that senior officials and especially elected officials are stuck in a chair. Change of government is a healthy thing. A cornerstone of the system.
It was a mistake to abolish the term limit clause for a prime minister in the Basic Law of the Government, and it is to be hoped that if a single constitutional amendment is made, it will not be a Basic Law of the Nation or a law on system changes of any kind, but only this small amendment. Two terms or eight years, whichever is longer – that is completely sufficient.
Returning to the above demand from that Knesset member – let Kahlon say. Let him say it now:
First, it's nice that the Likud is biting its nails regarding the public statements of their ex-minister. The man whose performance they brag about to the core and attribute it to the Likud (in the previous government we did a lot more things, Netanyahu said again this week).
Secondly, to Kahlon's credit, it must be said that he is rightly waiting for this coming Monday to make sure that the Knesset is indeed dissolved before he makes a statement.
If and when, after the Knesset dissolves, both Kahlon and Lapid face the following choice:
To come and clearly say to the Israeli public: A - 'I see myself as a candidate for prime minister' (if that's what they think). B - (and this is in the case of the Chahaloni) 'The reason I have made this long detour over the past two years of abandoning a senior position, establishing a new party and starting everything from the bottom is because I do not want Netanyahu to be prime minister.'.
As mentioned, government needs to be refreshed and replaced.
If Kahlon intends to hold the stick on both sides – then one big yawn. Kahlon, as Tomer Avital and I showed in Plog, Prefers to use metaphors and hide, maybe, Behind all kinds of vague messages. Saying that there is corruption in the Likud, but not getting involved with the guys and avoiding exposing the system in its entirety. I wonder if he will also act in this way regarding what he thinks of the incumbent prime minister.
Who conducted the survey for Globes newspaper?
On Thursday, a survey was published in Globes, according to which the public who responded to the survey viewed the connection between Tzipi Livni and Yitzhak Herzog positively. So much so that the combination of the parties surpassed the Likud in the elections.
The pollster, Rafi Smith, it turns out, is also a pollster for the Labor Party.
I asked Smith if this was true. And he confirmed to me (via text messages) that he has indeed been polling for the Labor Party and other parties for the past year. "I've been doing polls for a number of political bodies for 30 years, and also occasionally for media bodies, and in recent years more for Globes.".
• What other parties do you conduct surveys for?
"From all sides of the political spectrum, like many other pollsters.".
This information, that Smith is the chief columnist for the Globes newspaper and at the same time the columnist for the Labor Party and other political parties - must be visible and transparent on the pages of the Globes.
I I have argued this in the past against Avi Degani, who, while he is the official Likud pollster, continued to appear in numerous media outlets and talk about all the surveys he conducts. The same applies to Rafi Smith.
In general, I suggest that any media outlet that brings a pollster to the studio and on the radio open with a preliminary question - who are the political entities for whom you conduct polls, paid or unpaid?
Therefore, all surfers and consumers of political information are asked to read this survey in the appropriate perspective. This is a survey conducted for Globes newspaper by a surveyor who also conducts surveys for the Labor Party.
• Published on Tal Schneider's blog: http://www.talschneider.com/
