Wikipedia numbers show PM’s page winning the eyes

Israelis won’t know who their next prime minister will be until Wednesday at the earliest but in the wiki world, Benjamin Netanyahu is a clear winner.

Statistics collected by Wikipedia Israel indicate that Netanyahu’s Hebrew wiki page was viewed by 53,630 people from the day elections were called on December 3 through March 15. Netanyahu handily beat Isaac Herzog, the Zionist Union’s candidate, with his web page achieving a readership of 43,553.

Coming in third was Jewish Home’s Naftali Bennett, with 25,427 reads, followed by Tzipi Livni, whose Hebrew page was read by 25,011.

However, if the Wikipedia “poll” is any indication, Netanyahu does not have this election sewed up. The Likud’s Hebrew Wikipedia page was only the third most-accessed, with Zionist Union’s, which had 32,541 views, the most popular. Coming in second was Bennett’s Jewish Home, which had 24,118 views. Likud shows up in third place, with 23,105.

Moshe Kahlon’s Kulanu party had the fourth most-read Hebrew Wikipedia page, with 17,911 accesses. However, Kulanu was closely followed by Shas and Meretz – both parties that pollsters have said may not do well in the elections. Yair Lapid’s Yesh Atid, with 15,671 views, comes in seventh.

It’s been said that Netanyahu would do well as a US presidential candidate, and that is a conclusion that seems borne out by Netanyahu’s English-languae Wikipedia page, which during the three-month election campaign period garnered a whopping 450,340 views – way ahead of Herzog, whose English-language page was read by only 59,902 people.

However, the Wikipedia staff said, at least 150,000 of Netanyahu’s views came within days of the prime minister’s March speech to Congress about the Iran’s nuclear program, so it’s not an indication of how English speakers feel about Netanyahu’s leadership capabilities or overall political stance.

The numbers are interesting but should not be taken as a “poll” of who is expected to win the elections, said Wikipedia Israel chairman Itzik Edri.

“I can’t say there is a general correlation between these numbers and the election results, at least based on previous experience,” he said. “However, in the 2013 elections, Naftali Bennett had one of the most-viewed pages, and his party went on to do well – so there may be something to it after all. I guess we are just going to have to wait and see.”