When the government does not change for many years, voters begin to get the sense that their vote is of no significance and that those in power are there to stay.

While left-wing pundits continue to warn Israeli democracy is in grave danger, what they really mean is that they are disappointed that the Palestinians' refusal to make peace has shifted Israeli politics to the right and put in power a leader they despise.

The paper promises its readers "the world's most trusted perspective." Yet the complete misreading of a rather blatant political ad exposes, once again, the paper's failure to deliver up factual reporting.

Romain Franck, a former employee of the French Consulate in Jerusalem, was arrested last year and accused by Israeli prosecutors of receiving $7,600 for transporting the contraband between the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip and the West Bank.

Significant differences are emerging between the approaches to the West Bank taken by Netanyahu and Gantz, whose Blue and White party maintains that annexation would imperil the critical goal of preserving Israel's Jewish and democratic character.