Insecurity strengthens Israeli right
A poll after the attack on the Har Nof synagogue and an academic study indicate that when Israelis feel threatened, it plays into the hands of the right-wing parties, at the moment benefiting first and foremost the Likud Party.
According to a survey conducted for the Israeli news site Walla! a few hours after the murderous, Nov. 18 attack on a synagogue in the Har Nof neighborhood of Jerusalem, if elections had been held that same week, the three right-wing parties would have been able to form a coalition of 63 Knesset members.
In the 2013 elections, the three right-wing parties — Likud, Yisrael Beitenu, and HaBayit HaYehudi — amassed a total of 43 mandates. According to the latest poll, they would have been able to form a right-wing government without partners from the center or the ultra-Orthodox parties. The Likud, under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, would have 27 mandates, HaBayit HaYehudi's share would soar to 19, and Yisrael Beitenu's mandates would increase to 17 Knesset members. The Labor Party's mandates would have fallen from 15 to 10, and Yesh Atid's would plummet from 19 to 6. By comparison, another poll conducted for Israeli TV Channel 10 on Nov. 17, before the attack, estimated that the three right-wing parties would garner 55 mandates.
