When Gideon Sa'ar left Likud to set up his own political party, New Hope, his aspirations were grand: he wanted to become Israel's next prime minister. But what started out as a promising campaign, internal party polls reveal, is turning into a battle for actually crossing the four-seat electoral threshold.
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Media polls conducted ahead of the March 23 election project that New Hope will only win six or seven seats.
Sa'ar presented himself as an alternative to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, appealing to Israelis who oppose the current prime minister. But you see, the Center-Left bloc camp already has a leader, and his name is Yair Lapid, the leader of Yesh Atid.
And so, Sa'ar's "Anyone but Bibi" campaign failed abysmally, and Likud's claims that New Hope's leader was incapable of forming a right-wing government prevailed.
New Hope has no voter base. Unlike Likud, Yesh Atid, Meretz, and the Labor party, Sa'ar's supporters do not feel obligated to actually support him.
With Sa'ar no longer being perceived as an alternative to Netanyahu, voters are looking for options elsewhere, with Yesh Atid or Yamina.
Nevertheless, all hope is not gone. The one person who can come to Sa'ar's rescue is Lapid. Both understand that only by joining forces can they succeed and Lapid had gone on the record as saying that even if Yesh Atid won win more seats than New Hope, he would not contest Sa'ar bid for the PM's Office, were he to make one.
It is all in Lapid's hands now. Only he can heal the wounds New Hope has sustained and give focus to its election campaign and reinstate Sa'ar as a relevant political candidate.
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