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Media Summary

09/01/2015

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Both the Independent and Financial Times include articles profiling Israel’s upcoming general election on 17 March and conclude that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is vulnerable at the polls. Both emphasise that polling currently indicates a very tight race but that the joint ticket headed by Labour leader Isaac Herzog and Hatnuah head Tzipi Livni poses a genuine challenge to Netanyahu’s position. The Financial Times point to rising voter dissatisfaction with Netanyahu’s leadership, while the Independent says that the fine margins mean that any security or diplomatic development in the coming two months could have a crucial impact on the outcome of the election.

The Independent also includes a separate item reporting figures from the State Comptroller’s Office, which show that 90 per cent of contributions towards Netanyahu’s personal campaign for the Likud Party primaries came from American donors and in particular three specific families. Foreign donations for primary campaigns are permitted by official regulations.

The Independent and Times both report that the Egyptian military has announced that it will double the size of its buffer zone along the Gaza border from 500 metres to one kilometre, which will necessitate the destruction of more than 1,200 homes. The buffer zone is designed to combat the threat of tunnels from the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, which Egyptian authorities say have been responsible for smuggling weapons and Hamas fighters into Egypt’s Sinai region, where Islamist terror groups have routinely attacked Egyptian security forces.

The Times also reports that Egypt’s President al-Sisi has called for a “religious revolution” to combat Islamist extremism. Speaking to Muslim clerics at the prestigious Al-Azhar institute, he said that “the Islamic world is being torn, it is being destroyed, it is being lost.” The article suggests that al-Sisi is attempting to position himself as the leader of moderate Islam.

In the Israeli media, the top story in Maariv is the stabbing of a 21-year-old Jewish man near the Damascus Gate of the Old City in Jerusalem yesterday. The assailant fled the scene and is being pursued, while the victim of the assumed terror attack was taken to hospital where he is being treated for moderate injuries. Israel Hayom also makes this a major item.

The announcement yesterday confirming that Maj Gen (res) Yoav Galant has joined Moshe Kahlon’s Kulanu Party is covered prominently in Maariv, Haaretz and Israel Hayom. Galant’s candidacy adds significant security credentials to the Kulanu list. Galant commented at yesterday’s announcement, “Leadership is measured by actions and performance, not by talk, and the reforms he [Kahlon] has led are an example of actions and achievements.”

Maariv publishes its latest poll ahead of the 17 March General Election. The survey indicates that Likud would win 25 seats, followed by the joint Labour-Hatnuah on 24 seats. Jewish Home are predicted to secure 15 mandates, followed by a joint ticket of the three Arab parties on 11 seats, with Kulanu on 10 seats. Yesh Atid remain on nine seats, United Torah Judaism on eight, with Shas, Yisrael Beitenu and Meretz all on six mandates.