Poll Casts Doubt on Netanyahu's Reelection Chances

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's position as head of the government after the next election may not be as certain as he thought earlier in the week if polls are to be believed.

On Tuesday evening, Netanyahu fired two of his ministers and called for early elections two years ahead of schedule.  He said he couldn't tolerate criticism of the government's policies from within and he's aiming for security and stability for the country.

Opinion polls show his Likud party gaining seats in the Knesset in national elections that will probably be held in mid-March.  They also show right-wing parties pulling out ahead of left-wing parties.

However, a new poll whose results were published in the English language Jerusalem Post and Hebrew language Ma'ariv on Friday showed that 60 percent of Israelis want to replace Netanyahu.

Israelis vote for political parties rather than directly for the prime minister.  There are currently at least a dozen parties in the Knesset.

The poll of 500 respondents showed that Israelis would choose former Minister of Communications Moshe Kahlon over Netanyahu by 46 to 36 percent, and they'd choose former Education Minister Gideon Saar 43 to 38 percent.

Former Likud member Kahlon is in the process of forming his own political party. Saar, a Likud party member, recently quit politics for personal reasons but may be staging a comeback.

But a headline in the left-wing Ha'aretz newspaper warned on Friday: "Polls are unreliable, inexperience isn't a qualification, and the right-ward drift in Israeli politics is unproven."

Gershom Gorenberg wrote in the article unrelated to the poll published on Friday, "In Israeli politics, the only certain trends are uncertainty and volatility." 

He suggested reporters and Israelis ask "hard questions about the parties' policy proposals" and "treat poll numbers skeptically."