The final polls before Tuesday’s national election show the Likud losing support to Avigdor Lieberman’s Yisrael Beiteinu party, with Tzipi Livni’s Kadima hoping to capitalize on the momentum and win. Though the nationalist camp retains its clear advantage by a 60-40% margin, Likud leader Binyamin Netanyahu is still concerned. “Everyone is sure that I will become Prime Minister, so they are all voting for smaller parties,” he lamented on Thursday. “But in order to run the government effectively, we need a large Likud.” Kadima and Tzipi Livni are also taking the polls seriously, and feel that they might even be able to win the election – thanks to Lieberman. To this end, they have invested in the Russian media – not to attract the Russian vote for Kadima, which they feel is a lost cause, but simply to attack Netanyahu, assuming that every Russian vote lost for Netanyahu is a vote gained for Lieberman. Call for a Debate Foreign Minister Livni has once again called upon Netanyahu to join her in a public debate in the days remaining before the election. “Let us, the candidates for Prime Minister, present before the public our positions and proposals for the coming years,” she addressed her rival. “Public debates are a laudable democratic tradition… Excuses that candidates avoided debates in the past are not relevant; the responsibility today is upon us… There is still time in the remaining days… I would be happy to receive your positive response to this call.” The Polls The Yediot Acharanot/Dachaf poll has the Likud ahead of Kadima, 25-23 . Lieberman and Labor are next, with 19 and 16, respectively. Maariv/Teleseker gives the Likud a 26-23 lead over Kadima. Lieberman and Labor receive 19 and 17, respectively. The Haaretz/Dialog survey gives Likud 27, Kadima 25 , and Yisrael Beiteinu 18. Labor receives only 14. The final polls give Shas 9-10 seats, Ichud Leumi 3-4, and Jewish Home 2-3. Campaign Against Lieberman The Likud, as well as the Ichud Leumi (National Union), are making major last efforts – each on their own - to persuade voters not to support Lieberman . A letter and poster distributed in Judea and Samaria states, “Now is not the time for ‘protest votes’. Lieberman says out loud what we like hearing, but in the final analysis, he sat in the Olmert/Barak/Livni government, supports non-Halakhic conversion to Judaism, and does not oppose a Palestinian state – in our very own yards!” No Chance for Main Campaign Feature Tuvia Lerner, an analyst of the Russian media in Israel, says, “Lieberman’s big draw – his call to revoke the citizenship of Arabs who refuse to profess loyalty to the State of Israel – has absolutely no chance of becoming law, and he knows it. This is a major part of his campaign, but it is totally a non-starter. Even it passes in the Cabinet, it has to pass in the Knesset, which won’t happen, and even if it passes in the Knesset, it has to pass the Supreme Court, which will never happen, and even if it passes the Supreme Court, it will have to pass in the international court, which will never happen.” The public letter also has an anti-Likud message: “Now is not the time for ‘clever votes’. Yes, there are nationalists in the Likud – but at the helm stands Netanyahu, who voted in favor of the Disengagement! Your vote for the Likud might bring in another right-winger – but it could just as well bring in another left-winger!” The announcement concludes, “Vote for our own! Vote bet (the symbol for Jewish Home) or tet (Ichud Leumi)!”
