As Israel enters its final pre-election week, the national game of public surveys takes on greater urgency. The latest surveys published today show that the Likud will receive between 31 and 33 Knesset seats, while Labor stands only at 19. In the outgoing Knesset the Likud won 19 seats, while Labor had 26. Today's polls show that Shinui will jump ahead of Shas, Meretz, and others to become the 3rd-largest party, with 15-16 seats. The forecasts give Shas 10-11, Meretz and National Union 8 each, the NRP and UTJ 5 each. Closing out the list are Yisrael B'Aliya and Am Echad with 3 each, and the Arab parties with 10.
Labor Party leaders are beginning to show signs of panic, and one MK - Veitzman Shiri - even suggested that the party announce that Shimon Peres, and not Amram Mitzna, would be charged with forming a new government in the event of a Labor victory. One poll showed that Labor would win 29 seats, instead of 19, if Peres were to stand at the party's helm. It will be recalled that though Peres served as Prime Minister three times, and led the Labor party during several election campaigns, he never once won an election outright.
At a campaign appearance last night, Prime Minister Sharon said, "It is impossible to say you want Sharon but to vote for a small party. There's no such thing - no such thing. You can't vote twice. It's either Sharon or Shinui; Sharon or Lieberman; Sharon or Shas; whoever says otherwise is misleading the nation."
Sharon was thus expressing the Likud's new strategy of attempting to attract right-wing voters from the smaller parties. Although polls show that the highest number of still undecided voters are wavering between the Likud and left-of-center Shinui, the Prime Minister's remarks were directed largely to voters for smaller right-wing parties.
Technically, of course, Sharon is correct that one can only vote for one party. It is clear, however, that a vote for right-wing parties increases Sharon's chances to form a government, while a vote for left-wing parties increases Mitzna's chances to do the same. Arutz-7's Haggai Seri collected the following additional responses to Sharon's remarks:
MK Tzvi Hendel (National Union): "Apparently the Likud is feeling the pressure. There are some [Likud] ministers who say straight out that they think that the National Union is really the true Likud. I wouldn't even be surprised if some Likud ministers, when they're behind the curtain at the moment of truth, vote for the National Union… The drawing-away of Likud votes in our direction is apparently really scaring them."
MK Yuli Edelstein (Yisrael B'Aliya): "I don't believe that the Likud will get 61 MKs under any circumstances, and therefore it will have to form a coalition with other parties … The coalition will need parties that represent different sectors and will only strengthen them."
MK Sha'ul Yahalom (NRP): "Sharon is very scared of the small right-wing parties because he knows they won't allow him to sign agreements calling for a Palestinian state, or to do other things... He therefore wants the Likud to be large so that he can do what he wants with it, and even replace government ministers with those who go along with his plans, as he said he would do. Smaller parties such as the NRP won't allow him to freeze Yesha communities or hurt other ideals for which he himself used to fight."
MK Michael Kleiner (Herut), speaking on Arutz-7 today, said that contrary to popular perception, "many polls show that we will in fact pass the minimum threshold - and we may even get three or four seats... Those who feel, however, that we are on the borderline, should certainly vote for us, so as to ensure that the tens of thousands of votes that we will certainly receive not go to waste."
Labor Party leaders are beginning to show signs of panic, and one MK - Veitzman Shiri - even suggested that the party announce that Shimon Peres, and not Amram Mitzna, would be charged with forming a new government in the event of a Labor victory. One poll showed that Labor would win 29 seats, instead of 19, if Peres were to stand at the party's helm. It will be recalled that though Peres served as Prime Minister three times, and led the Labor party during several election campaigns, he never once won an election outright.
At a campaign appearance last night, Prime Minister Sharon said, "It is impossible to say you want Sharon but to vote for a small party. There's no such thing - no such thing. You can't vote twice. It's either Sharon or Shinui; Sharon or Lieberman; Sharon or Shas; whoever says otherwise is misleading the nation."
Sharon was thus expressing the Likud's new strategy of attempting to attract right-wing voters from the smaller parties. Although polls show that the highest number of still undecided voters are wavering between the Likud and left-of-center Shinui, the Prime Minister's remarks were directed largely to voters for smaller right-wing parties.
Technically, of course, Sharon is correct that one can only vote for one party. It is clear, however, that a vote for right-wing parties increases Sharon's chances to form a government, while a vote for left-wing parties increases Mitzna's chances to do the same. Arutz-7's Haggai Seri collected the following additional responses to Sharon's remarks:
MK Tzvi Hendel (National Union): "Apparently the Likud is feeling the pressure. There are some [Likud] ministers who say straight out that they think that the National Union is really the true Likud. I wouldn't even be surprised if some Likud ministers, when they're behind the curtain at the moment of truth, vote for the National Union… The drawing-away of Likud votes in our direction is apparently really scaring them."
MK Yuli Edelstein (Yisrael B'Aliya): "I don't believe that the Likud will get 61 MKs under any circumstances, and therefore it will have to form a coalition with other parties … The coalition will need parties that represent different sectors and will only strengthen them."
MK Sha'ul Yahalom (NRP): "Sharon is very scared of the small right-wing parties because he knows they won't allow him to sign agreements calling for a Palestinian state, or to do other things... He therefore wants the Likud to be large so that he can do what he wants with it, and even replace government ministers with those who go along with his plans, as he said he would do. Smaller parties such as the NRP won't allow him to freeze Yesha communities or hurt other ideals for which he himself used to fight."
MK Michael Kleiner (Herut), speaking on Arutz-7 today, said that contrary to popular perception, "many polls show that we will in fact pass the minimum threshold - and we may even get three or four seats... Those who feel, however, that we are on the borderline, should certainly vote for us, so as to ensure that the tens of thousands of votes that we will certainly receive not go to waste."