New Israeli Poll Brings Back Hope to Netanyahu

Benjamin Netanyahu has a new opportunity to return to power (AFP)
Benjamin Netanyahu has a new opportunity to return to power (AFP)
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New Israeli Poll Brings Back Hope to Netanyahu

Benjamin Netanyahu has a new opportunity to return to power (AFP)
Benjamin Netanyahu has a new opportunity to return to power (AFP)

A new poll, published on Friday, has shown that Israel’s opposition led by Benjamin Netanyahu is close to getting the majority of seats while the government would probably lose eight seats (13 percent) of its power.

Lawmaker David Bitan spoke with Radio 103FM Friday, following the release of the poll which projects the Netanyahu bloc – the Likud, United Torah Judaism, Shas, and Religious Zionist Party – receiving just 59 seats.

Bitan predicted: “Only Netanyahu can get 61 seats. You can put me on record saying it: We will get more than 61 seats in the next election.”

The poll was published in The Jerusalem Post and Maariv to increase conviction that PM Naftali Bennet’s government would collapse soon.

The poll found that 65 percent of Israelis are not satisfied with the performance of the Prime Minister, and only 30 percent said he is performing well.

Experts agree that this government can’t last until the end of its term.

Although the opposition is also facing a crisis and is incapable of garnering the majority, the recent polls' results restore hope in achieving a progress that would bring the opposition back to power.

According to the poll, 69 percent of respondents don’t want an Arab party in the next government, only 22 percent want one, and nine percent don’t know.

The survey shows that the Arab MPs' influence at the Knesset is increasing and the government is forced to abstain from ignoring them.

The United Arab List alone can be decisive and guarantee the battle in favor of Netanyahu.

In return, there is the Joint List that consists of three Arab parties led by Ayman Odeh. The list becomes a decisive power according to the poll, and it is endorsing an objective policy towards the Arabs’ rights but refuses to be part of the coalition.



Suspect in Killing of Top Russian General Charged with Terrorism

A detainee, named as Uzbek national Akhmad Kurbanov and considered by investigators as a suspect in the murder of chief of Russia's Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Protection Troops Igor Kirillov along with his assistant, sits inside an enclosure for defendants before a court hearing in Moscow, Russia December 19, 2024. REUTERS/Yulia Morozova
A detainee, named as Uzbek national Akhmad Kurbanov and considered by investigators as a suspect in the murder of chief of Russia's Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Protection Troops Igor Kirillov along with his assistant, sits inside an enclosure for defendants before a court hearing in Moscow, Russia December 19, 2024. REUTERS/Yulia Morozova
TT

Suspect in Killing of Top Russian General Charged with Terrorism

A detainee, named as Uzbek national Akhmad Kurbanov and considered by investigators as a suspect in the murder of chief of Russia's Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Protection Troops Igor Kirillov along with his assistant, sits inside an enclosure for defendants before a court hearing in Moscow, Russia December 19, 2024. REUTERS/Yulia Morozova
A detainee, named as Uzbek national Akhmad Kurbanov and considered by investigators as a suspect in the murder of chief of Russia's Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Protection Troops Igor Kirillov along with his assistant, sits inside an enclosure for defendants before a court hearing in Moscow, Russia December 19, 2024. REUTERS/Yulia Morozova

The suspect in the killing of top Russian general Igor Kirillov has been charged with an act of terrorism resulting in the death of a person, a notice on the website of the Moscow court said on Thursday.

Russia said on Wednesday it had detained an Uzbek man who had confessed to planting and detonating a bomb in Moscow which killed Kirillov, who was the chief of Russia's Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Protection Troops, on the instructions of Ukraine's SBU security service.

Russia's Investigative Committee, which probes serious crimes, said in a statement on Wednesday that the unnamed suspect identifed as Akhmad Kurbanov had told them he had come to Moscow to carry out an assignment for Ukraine's intelligence services.
In a video published by the Baza news outlet, which is known to have sources in Russian law-enforcement circles, the suspect is seen sitting in a van describing his actions.

He describes placing the device on the electric scooter and parking it outside the apartment block where Kirillov lived.
Investigators cited him as saying he set up a surveillance camera in a hire car which, they said, was watched in the Ukrainian city of Dnipro by people who organized the killing.
The suspect, who is thought to be 29, is shown saying he remotely detonated the device when Kirillov left the building. He says Ukraine had offered him $100,000 and residency in a European country.

Maria Zakharova, a spokeswoman for Russia's Foreign Ministry, said Moscow would raise the assassination at the United Nations Security Council on Dec. 20.