If the results of Tuesday's election were not enough to convince observers that the Jewish state is shifting to the right, an Israeli pollster has published figures revealing that a mere 6 percent of Israelis today define themselves as left-wing liberals.
Speaking to The Jerusalem Post on Wednesday, Rafi Smith of the Rafi Smith Institute survey group said he polled some 1,700 Israelis just after they voted a day earlier to find out how they see themselves and their picks for government in terms of their values.
Forty-three percent of respondents said they are either right-wing or center-right. Another 24 percent said they are in the center of the political spectrum, and 13 percent more said they are center-left.
A mere 6 percent said they see themselves as full left-wing.
Those numbers translated into just 16 mandates for Israel's two pure left-wing Knesset parties, Labor and Meretz.
By contrast, Labor and Meretz won a combined 56 Knesset seats in the 1992 general election.