Former Justice Minister Haim Ramon believes the Netanyahu government has little reason for concern and is likely to complete its full term, citing what he described as the utter weakness of the opposition.
"Netanyahu wants to serve until the end of his term," Ramon explained in an interview with 103 FM Radio. "If someone had told him on October 7th that he would enter the final year of his term with better poll numbers than before the war, he would’ve said, 'Sir, you’re hallucinating, that's pure fantasy.'"
"I estimate elections will take place close to their scheduled time, sometime between April and October."
Ramon added: "Netanyahu believes he can still accomplish a lot. Especially considering that facing him is no real opposition - it’s an embarrassing sight. I was young and now I’m old, and I don’t recall an opposition so pitiful. They call it ‘the opposition bloc’; I’ve never seen a bloc so crumbly."
As an example of the opposition's dysfunction, Ramon pointed to the recent preliminary vote on a bill to apply Israeli sovereignty in Judea and Samaria.
"There are issues where even a preliminary reading is critical. Yair Lapid entered at the last minute with his faction leader. He has 24 MKs. If some of them had shown up, the proposal would have been defeated. And this is on one of the most ideological matters - Judea and Samaria."
In his estimation, "If elections are declared, they will likely take place around April or May, which would be a phenomenal achievement for Netanyahu. It’s not that he’s a political giant; the opposition is simply a group of political dwarfs. As of now, in all the polls and trends, if I’m reading them correctly, Netanyahu’s bloc is about evenly matched with what can’t even be called a bloc opposing him."