| James M. Dorsey |
Common wisdom suggests that Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu believes war will keep him in office. Recent opinion polls support the hypothesis.
Two polls conducted earlier this month by Maariv newspaper concluded, for the first time since the Gaza war erupted last October, that Mr. Netanyahu, whose popularity ranked for much of the past year at an all-time low, would win an election.
The polls showed the prime minister two points ahead of his main rival, former defense minister and war cabinet member Benny Gantz, at 42 per cent.
Even so, Mr. Netanyahu’s ultra-nationalist, ultra-conservative coalition would struggle in an election to win a parliamentary majority, securing at most 54 of the 120 seats in the Knesset, the Israeli parliament…
