Haaretz poll: Most Israelis believe Lapid failed to fulfill campaign promise

[Jefferson23]

Developments involving the new draft bill have boosted the popularity of Yesh Atid, but not that of its leader. Elsewhere in the corridors of power, the presidential race is heating up.

By Yossi Verter | Feb. 28, 2014 |

Now that the dust has settled and Zionism is back big-time with esprit de corps, all that remains is to ask the nation about the new military draft law. This week, the bill successfully navigated the committee headed by MK Ayelet Shaked (Habayit Hayehudi) on its way to the Knesset chamber.

It turns out that only a small minority is buying the pompous assertion by Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid, in a press conference on February 20, that “Zionism has returned … A legal and historical aberration of 65 years has been righted.” The overwhelming majority of the public – almost two-thirds of those asked in a Haaretz-Dialog poll this week – believes that the new law will not “equalize the burden” of military service. Lapid will succeed in pushing through the legislation – on which he has staked his entire reputation – but in the eyes of most Israelis he failed to fulfill the promise on which he and his party rode into the Knesset: to introduce true equality in army service between the ultra-Orthodox and the secular population, and between the religious-Zionist movement and the secular public.

The average citizen has too much on his mind to dwell on legal niceties. But when he finds out about the infuriating discrimination in favor of the soldiers of the hesder yeshivas (which combine religious studies with military service) that’s received Lapid’s support, and when he hears that draft of Haredim will not begin before the end of 2017, when draftees will be between 24 and 26 years old and have two or three toddlers – he’ll snort with contempt, “This is the return of Zionism? It’s the return of cynicism.”

It’s undeniable that the process of the law’s passage has yielded political dividends for Lapid. His party shows a significant gain in this week’s poll. About half of the disappointed voters who had abandoned Yesh Atid in recent months have returned to the fold. This is certainly due to the headlines about the draft law, but also due to the weakening of two center-left parties, Meretz and Labor. They lost a combined total of three seats to Lapid.

Still, the public is very much able to distinguish between Lapid’s party, on the one hand, and Finance Minister Lapid and premiership candidate Lapid, on the other. After almost exactly a year in office, the former TV presenter is clinging tenaciously to his ranking as the least highly regarded minister in the government. The poll’s results are simply embarrassing: 18 percent are satisfied with his performance as finance minister, 5 percent think he’s suited to be prime minister.

http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/.premium-1.576883

[Scootaloo]

1. Didn't we have a poster falling over this guy as if he were the second coming?

Same guy who predicted Zipper would become PM?

Whatever happened to that guy, did he get sucked into the Greater Zionist Entity that is Shaktidaave?