Bibi beats Herzog — on Wikipedia

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu clearly beats his challenger Isaac Herzog – at least in the number of times Internet users looked up their names on Wikipedia.

In the 90 days leading up to Election Day, 53,630 people surfed onto the Hebrew entry for Netanyahu – about ten thousand more than were interested in Herzog (43,553).

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu casts his vote at a polling station in Jerusalem on March 17, 2015. Photo credit: Marc israel Sellem/POOL/FLASH90)

Jewish Home chairman Naftali Bennett came in a distant third with 25,427 page views, followed closely by Herzog’s running mate Tzipi Livni (25,011), according to figures provided by Wikimedia Israel chairman Itzik Edri. United Torah Judaism chief Yaakov Litzman was the least-searched for party-head, with 3,015 page views; but this might also have to do with the fact that many ultra-Orthodox Jews shun Internet use.

When it comes to the two major parties, however, Herzog’s Zionist Union raised more curiosity among surfers, with 32,541 looking for the new list’s name on Wikipedia, while only 23,105 looked up the Likud’s entry.

Zionist Union leader Isaac Herzog accompanied by his wife Michal prepares to cast his vote in Tel Aviv, Tuesday, March 17, 2015. (photo credit: AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

On Wikipedia’s English site, Netanyahu runs in a different league. His entry was called up 450,340 times (some 150,000 page views occurred around the time of his controversial speech to the US Congress). In contrast, the Wikipedia page on Herzog came in second with a lousy 59,902 page views, according to Edri. Livni came in third with 41,801, followed by Bennett with 26,824.

— Raphael Ahren