Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is trying to rally supporters as he faces the possibility of being voted out of office with his Likud party trailing in polls as Tuesday’s parliamentary election looms.
"Our rivals are investing a huge effort to harm me and the Likud, to open a gap between my party, the Likud, and (our rivals), and if we don't close this gap, there is a real danger that a left-wing government will rise to power," Netanyahu said during a rally on Sunday,
Reuters reported.
Opinion polls published Friday showed the center-left Zionist Union leading the Likud by four seats.
Netanyahu’s efforts to rally supporters have included a series of media interviews leading up to a last-minute decision to speak at Sunday’s rally,
Fox News reported.
"This is a fateful struggle, a close struggle. We must close this gap. We can close this gap," Netanyahu said, according to the network.
Netanyahu blames his drops in the polls on a worldwide conspiracy, Fox News said.
Democrats, including former Obama aide Jeremy Bird, have worked with nonprofit group V15 to support a more liberal government, while U.S. Republicans have backed Netanyahu,
according to USA Today.
"People want change. They're talking about social and economic issues," pollster Rafi Smith said, according to USA Today. "These issues are having more weight than in any other election."
Gadi Wolfsfeld, a political science professor at the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya, said Israelis are unhappy with wars, terrorism and economic and social inequality in Israeli.
"Netanyahu has been in power for quite a few years, and I don't think anyone's happy with the way the country is going," he said, according to USA Today.
Despite slipping in the polls, experts expect Netanyahu will retain his position,
according to Al Jazeera.
"Most Israelis see very little reason to change the incumbent,” said Dimi Reider, an Israeli journalist and researcher at the European Council on Foreign Relations, noted Al Jazeera. “If he wins, and I expect he will, these are the last elections he will win. On the other side of the political map, that means that the Israeli center-left and left are still nowhere near getting back on their feet."
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