Netanyahu Is In Trouble.....

Netanyahu is in trouble. Too much sabre rattling. Too much bullying. Too much alienating. Not enough paying attention to the people. Soon the people will head to the polls.

http://www.nytimes.com/…/netanyahu-herzog-livni-campaign-as…

Mr. Netanyahu, who is running for his third consecutive term, and fourth overall, is beginning to confront the very real possibility of a political about-face in Israel.

“If we do not close the gap in the next few days there is indeed a danger that Tzipi Livni and Bougie Herzog will be the next prime ministers,” Mr. Netanyahu said in an interview on Israel’s Channel 2 News on Thursday night

the public dynamic seems to have been shifting against Mr. Netanyahu.

Mr. Herzog has emerged as an increasingly credible candidate for the post of prime minister in recent weeks, largely capitalizing on Mr. Netanyahu’s failures to address the daily concerns of millions of Israelis over the high cost of living and a lack of reasonably priced housing.

Mr. Netanyahu has focused on his credentials as a strong leader best able to protect Israelis against the potential nuclear threat of Iran and other enemies.

But even on the security front Mr. Netanyahu has found himself challenged, with his critics accusing him of fraying Israel’s ties with its most crucial ally, the United States, over the Iranian issue.

“You and you alone turned the United States from an ally into an enemy,” Shabtai Shavit, a former chief of the Mossad spy agency, said in a blistering statement addressed to Mr. Netanyahu at a news conference with several other former security chiefs and retired commanders in Tel Aviv this week.

Another retired Mossad chief, Meir Dagan, has also come out of the shadows on a mission to unseat Mr. Netanyahu. At an opposition rally attended by tens of thousands of people in Tel Aviv last Saturday night, Mr. Dagan, who is known to be unwell, captivated the audience by delivering a keynote speech with tears in his eyes.

“Israel is surrounded by enemies,” he told the crowd. “Enemies do not scare me; I worry about our leadership.” He said what he most feared was “a lack of vision, a lack of direction and determination, and a dearth of exemplary leadership.”

Mr. Netanyahu acknowledged that he had made mistakes by not doing enough to control the cost of living and he promised to flood Israel with apartments if re-elected. (Watch out West Bank)

Mr. Netanyahu stopped at a coffee shop and ordered a cappuccino, which he paid for with a 100-shekel bill, worth about $25. The coffee shop owner later told Israeli television that she had given him 87 shekels back in small coins to remind him that while he speaks about Iran, “we, the independent business owners in the country, are conscious of the daily difficulties of getting by, even for small change.”