Who Knew Tzipi Livni would be the messenger giving the Likud Beitenu some breathing space in the last phase of the election, in a last attempt to stop the downfall in the polls. The Likud-Yisrael Beitenu campaign quickly launched a campaign under the slogan: "Against the left-bloc, you need a large Likud-Beiteinu." Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recited this slogan over and over again during a huge party held by Deputy Minister Gila Gamliel for hundreds of young Likudnicks at the Reading 3 club in Tel Aviv.
"It's not every day that the prime minister can wear jeans and hang out at the Tel Aviv port," Netanyahu told reporters outside the event. "I'm happy to see young people here. They understand what many understand: that we need a large Likud-Beiteinu against the left-wing bloc. Any other vote may bring in a left-wing government."
"We couldn't have dreamed of a better move than that set in motion by Tzipi Livni," a source in the Likud told Haaretz. "All of the undecided voters, who were toying with the idea to vote for Naftali Bennett and who abandoned the Likud over the past few weeks are coming back home." According to him, "we were very surprised that Shelly Yacimovich fell for the spin created by Livni. I'm not sure that she understood the meaning of the move: the Labor party – the biggest list in the bloc at the moment – marked Livni as a leader in the union, and actually indirectly strengthened Netanyahu. Shelly didn't even bother to lock Livni down and to stipulate that if they unified she would commit not to sit in our government."
