President urges nonvoters to reconsider

The president hosted a conference at his official residence in Jerusalem attended by some 100 citizens who have declared they intend to not vote.
 

Rivlin said he wanted to give the nonvoters something to consider before they choose to opt out of the election process.
 

“I fear that refusing to vote is an own goal [in soccer, an accidental score against one’s own team],” Rivlin said. “A low electoral turnout is an incubator for social deterioration. It only widens the dangerous gap between the elected officials and the public; it empowers extremist, violent groups, which endanger us all.”
 

“I did not invite you here today to preach to you, and certainly not to ask for your vote,” he said. “From what I have heard and read from you, I understand that today there are many citizens who feel a lack of faith in the political system.”
 

“Therefore, I have invited you here today in order to say that despair and apathy are not the solution,” Rivlin continued. “The solution does not begin with doing less, but doing more. To be more involved. To be more observant. To be more united. To demand more. My friends, go and vote!”
 

The elections for the 20th Knesset will take place March 17 and come after the previous government lasted less than two years in office before the coalition fell apart, forcing a new vote.
 

A poll released on Wednesday confirmed that the Zionist Union has established a clear lead over the Likud, but that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could still form a right-wing coalition government.
 

According to the results the Zionist Union, formed by the joining of the Labor and Hatnua parties, was set to win 24 seats in the coming national elections, while the Likud, led by Netanyahu, would only secure 21 seats out of the 120 in the Israeli parliament. For Likud, the result showed the party dropping one seat compared to a previous Army Radio poll eight days earlier.
 

However, 48 percent still see Netanyahu as most suitable for the premiership, while just 32% believe that Zionist Union leader Isaac Herzog should have the job. Some 15% were undecided as to whom they would want to lead the country.
 

The survey, conducted by the Shiluv institute on behalf of Army Radio, sampled 600 adults from a cross-section of Israeli society and had a 3% error factor.
 

With just six days until the election, the poll found that the third-largest party was likely to the national-religious Jewish Home faction, led by Economy Minister Naftali Bennett, which would win 13 seats, a gain of one seat compared to the previous survey.
 

Yesh Atid, led by Yair Lapid, was predicted to win 12 seats, as was the Arab Joint List.
 

Kulanu, led by former Likud minister Moshe Kahlon, scored eight seats in the survey while the two ultra-Orthodox parties, Shas and United Torah Judaism, were both predicted to win seven seats.

Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman’s party, Yisrael Beytenu, would drop to just six seats, the same number as the dovish Meretz party.
 

Bottom of the list was Yahad, led by former Shas chairman Eli Yishai, which was predicted to beat the minimum threshold with just four seats.