Israel's Netanyahu would win early election: poll

[oberliner]

(Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would win an election if it were held now, an opinion poll showed on Monday as he weighs strategy towards Iran's nuclear program and speculation grows that he will seek a renewed public mandate.

The next parliamentary election in Israel is not due until October 2013, but the right-wing premier signaled on Sunday he was considering moving up the ballot.

A slew of commentators, citing cracks in the governing coalition over formulating a new law that could force ultra-Orthodox Jews to serve in the conscript military, said Netanyahu may opt for an election as early as August or September.

On Saturday, a former Israeli spymaster branded the country's leaders as "messianic", in the strongest criticism yet from a security veteran of threats to launch a pre-emptive war to disable Iranian nuclear sites.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/04/30/us-israel-election-netanyahu-idUSBRE83T0FZ20120430

[aranthus]

1. Israel has lost hope.

The people feel threatened by Iran, by the collapse of relations with Egypt, and by the rise of Islamists due to the Arab Spring. And they recognize that peace with the Palestinians isn't possible for the foreseeable future. They think that Netanyahu is more "realistic" than Kadima, and way more than Labor.

[shira]

2. You forgot to add that most Israelis don't trust the far Left anymore...

The same far Left who couldn't even back Israel's successful J-14 socialist movement that attracted hundreds of thousands of protesters into the streets.

The 2nd Intifada that came near the conclusion of the CD/Taba talks was the beginning of the move rightward in Israeli politics. The Gaza withdrawal was the last straw. The International Left abandoned Israel when Israel was making its greatest concessions and risks for peace. Instead the Left backed and supported bigoted fascists like Hamas and Hezbollah, mourning the deaths of their militants while ignoring or whitewashing Israeli fatalities altogether.

When the far Left acts like the fascist Right what do you expect from most Israelis?

[aranthus]

3. It's not so much a question of trust.

They think that the far Left is the enemy.