Can anybody explain to me the difference between Likud’s two-state-solution and Labor’s? Between Lapid’s proposal to divide the land and Bennett’s?
Israeli politics no longer represents ideas – just people and political camps. We are a personal-level democracy, but an ideological dictatorship. We are invited to vote for many people. But we can choose only one idea. The Likud didn’t even bother to publicize its platform before the previous elections. Essentially, it said to its voters: “We don’t have policies, just political camps. Give us an open check for any policies we please.”
Many Israelis who seek a truly ideological party with a broad and detailed platform will have a true party to vote for in the next elections – a party built on right-wing ideology, true liberalism, and solid Jewish identity. They now have a party of ideas, not people.
Last week, an in-depth survey was conducted for our party – Zehut – by Professor Camille Fuchs, an esteemed surveyor. The survey’s purpose was to supply Zehut with professional tools with which to map out its strategy for the upcoming elections. The poll was conducted from a representative sample of 701 people. It revealed – as did previous surveys – that if we manage to bring Zehut into the public eye, the voting potential for the party is very high – much more than what would be expected for an unknown party just starting out that doesn’t enjoy a tailwind from the media.
Eighty-four percent of Israeli citizens identify Moshe Feiglin, but only 29 percent have heard of the Zehut party. In other words, more than 2/3 of the people surveyed heard of the Zehut party for the first time when polled. Nonetheless, 21 percent said they would consider voting for Zehut. In other words, the voting potential for Zehut is over 25 Knesset mandates!
The equivalent of 6.3 mandates said that they would certainly vote for Zehut if they were convinced that it would pass the voting threshold. According to the survey, these mandates are coming to Zehut from an array of political parties: Yesh Atid (Lapid), Jewish Home (Bennett), Yisrael Beiteinu (Lieberman), and the “non-voting” party. The equivalent of 2.4 mandates said that they would vote for Zehut regardless of the voting threshold issue.
The broader significance of the survey is clear: Zehut provides the answer to a true need of large public sectors in Israel. The voting potential for the party today is over 10 mandates. Approximately 90,000 Israelis plan to vote for Zehut regardless of the voting threshold issue. Until the elections actually take place, we must convince another 40,000 Israelis to join this group and to impress upon the public that Zehut is a party that will most surely enter the next Knesset. At that point, the six mandates will just be the starting point and the snowball effect will make Zehut’s great potential grow exponentially. In the next elections Zehut will win.