
While all the polls and predictions concluded that current Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will be re-elected, the parties have been fighting for their strength either in his coalition or in the opposition. Labor, a historic party whose leadership established the State of Israel, nearly vanished in the previous elections but under the new leadership of Shelly Yechimovich is attempting to reposition itself as the Center-Left party, capitalizing on the frustrations that led hundreds of thousands to the streets in the mass protests last summer. The Real News attended the Labor Party’s mega event where Lia Tarachansky spoke to Stav Shaffir, the unofficial spokeswoman of the J14 social justice protests. The Real News also teamed up with journalist Max Blumenthal at the elections’ foreign policy debate where he spoke to Isaac “Buji” Herzog, the second runnerup on the Labor ticket. Commenting on labor’s campaign is Dimi Reider, a journalist and contributing editor of 972 Magazine.