Current sectionIsrael NewsHaaretz TodayHaaretz Today Elections are opportunities to lead and even provoke, not merely to follow. Are Netanyahu's rivals forfeiting that opportunity by playing on his turf and erasing any ideological distinction between themselves and him?Share to FacebookShare to XArticle printing is available to subscribers onlyPrint in a simple, ad-free formatSubscribeComments: Zen reading is available to subscribers onlyAd-free and in a comfortable reading formatSubscribeDavid Issacharoff 08:16 PM • August 27 2026 IDTI don't know why I do it to myself, but whenever I can, I watch The Patriots on pro-Netanyahu Channel 14. Broadcast live at 9 P.M., it is a looser and louder nightly blend of masochism and opposition research.Loading...Click the alert icon to follow topics:Haaretz Today NewsletterCommentsLoading...In the NewsIn the News: Live UpdatesAltalenaE1Hasan PikerWest BankNetanyahuGazaMansour AbbasIsrairHaQuizHaaretz PodcastIf Only Netanyahu's Rivals Were as Left-wing as He ClaimsIsraeli Weather Service Warns of 'Unprecedented' Storm Due to Super El Niño'I Still Have Nightmares': Freed Israeli Hostage Recounts Two Years in CaptivityAfter Likud Smear Campaign, Ofer Winter Vows to Back Netanyahu as Prime MinisterSmotrich Vows to Judaize Arab-majority Areas 'Like in the West Bank'Remembering and rebuilding two years laterICYMIAn Israeli Startup Is Reinventing Salmon Farming. It May Upend a Global IndustryHasan Piker Talks Hamas, anti-Zionism and Why Americans Are Fed Up With IsraelBeing Israeli Abroad Has Become Embarrassing. You Don't Talk About It'Israel Is Sending Militias to Commit War Crimes – and I Have to Protect Them'David Remnick on Netanyahu, Mamdani and Israel's 'Failure to Face' GazaBen-Gvir's Ambush Shook Netanyahu – and Unleashed a War for Right-wing Votes