JERUSALEM — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu flew home Wednesday to face a tougher, less adoring crowd than cheering lawmakers in Washington. Awaiting him were Israeli voters — and a tight election in less than two weeks.
According to polls carried out by Israeli TV news channels Wednesday, the day after his high-stakes speech to Congress, Netanyahu’s address had only a modest influence on the Israeli electorate.
Israel’s Channel 2 news said Netanyahu’s Likud party had increased its likely support by one seat in the parliament. On rival Channel 10, Likud had gained two seats to tie its main challenger.
In answer to Channel 2’s question — “Did the speech strengthen or weaken support for Netanyahu?” — 44 percent of respondents said it had strengthened support, 43 percent said it had no influence and 12 percent said it had weakened support for the premier.
Israeli political analysts had predicted that Netanyahu and Likud probably would see at least a small bump in support after he warned U.S. lawmakers to reject President Barack Obama’s draft deal to curb Iran’s nuclear program.
Many Israelis said it was a strong address about an important topic, although many also acknowledged that TV images of rapturously applauding members of Congress wouldn’t hurt his re-election bid, either.
It is too soon to know whether any electoral boost that Netanyahu gains from the speech will be sustained.
The real scrum of the election has just begun.
Likudniks are hoping the boss’s address to Congress will pull them ahead of their main challenger, Labor Party leader Isaac Herzog and his running mate, former justice minister and peace negotiator Tzipi Livni, who are running under the banner of the Zionist Union.
Herzog and the Zionist Union plan to hammer away on the theme that Netanyahu’s address to Congress might do nothing to change the Iran nuclear deal but has spoiled relations with Washington.
