Bibi's re-election looks shaky

While Bibi Netanyahu may be a hero to American conservatives, he is not doing well in the Israeli election, which is next Tuesday. Avner Zarmi writes at PJ Media that there are three reasons he is in trouble:

The first is the simple desire for change. One of the polls this week found that 72% of the electorate simply want a change, and feel that the country is moving in the wrong direction on socioeconomic issues. Remember that Netanyahu has been prime minister for nine years, as the cost of living and especially of housing has been spiraling out of control.

The second is linked to the first. The old saying is that “familiarity breeds contempt.” While Israel faces existential issues — the steaming cauldron of instability and violence surrounding her, the threat of an Iranian nuclear bomb — which seem to loom large in the U.S., the fact is that every Israeli has been living with such threats his entire adult life. Most Israelis serve in the military, and open warfare becomes a reality every few years; so what else is new? There is a sense that the average person can’t do much about foreign policy and defense, but the question of a full refrigerator and an affordable apartment looms large. Thus, domestic issues greatly overshadow the international ones; Netanyahu and Bennett have been beating the kettle-drum for so long that it elicits a right-to-left yawn.

And the third is the proliferation of scandals. The lawsuit filed by the former manager of the prime minister’s residence alleging abuse by Mrs. Netanyahu; the scathing comptroller’s report documenting hundreds of thousands of shekalim misspent both on the residence and on Netanyahu’s private home, at a time when government has been crying for austerity all hit home, and none of them look good.

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