To understand why Benjamin “Bibi” Netanyahu lost ground in the month leading up to the election, Sharmini Peries speaks to David Newman, Professor of political geography at Ben-Gurion University in Be’ersheva, Israel. He says Netanyahu, who was ten seats ahead only a month ago, has lost much of his ground. His seats have been picked up by Lieberman and Livni. Newman says Ehud Barak, who was previously the third runner up as the leader of the historic Avoda (Labour) Party has dropped to an unprecedented fourth place because most Israelis don’t like him. Finally, Newman argues Israel’s top parties ought to link forces to create major change in Israeli electoral politics.