The Elections in Israel 2015 dissects these and other campaigns, from the perspective of the voters, the media and opinion polls, the political parties, and electoral competition. Several contributors delve into the Left and Arab fear mongering Likud campaign, which produced strategic identity voting. Other contributions analyze in-depth the Israeli party and electoral systems, highlighting the exceptional decline of the mainstream parties and the adoption of a higher electoral threshold. Providing a close analysis of electoral competition, legitimacy struggles, stability and change in the voting behavior of various groups, partisanship, personalization and political polarization, this volume is a crucial record of Israeli political history.
Michal Shamir is the Alvin Z. Rubinstein Professor of Political Science at Tel-Aviv University. She has authored and edited several books and numerous articles on elections, public opinion and democratic culture, and directs the Israel National Election Studies (INES).
Gideon Rahat is the Gersten Family Chair in Political Science at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He has published numerous studies on the politics of reform, democratic institutions, candidate and leadership selection and political personalization.