PR Executive Slams Pollster Over Election Forecast Discrepancies
Translated & summarized from Ice by baba
Public relations executive Rani Rahav publicly criticized pollster Shlomo Filber for significant discrepancies between his pre-election forecasts and the actual 2026 election results. Filber defended his predictions, acknowledging some forecasting errors while asserting the right bloc did not lose voters. As vote counts progressed, results aligned more with Filber's projections, leading to a media offensive by Channel 14 against rival pollsters. Media personality Eyal Berkovich apologized to Filber, admitting his earlier skepticism was misplaced.
The story in 5 lines · by baba
- Rani Rahav criticized Shlomo Filber over election forecast inaccuracies, noting a drop from 68 to 54 seats for the right bloc.
- Filber defended his polling, stating no Likud voters shifted and acknowledging underestimation of Arab voter turnout.
- Channel 14 highlighted its accurate Likud forecast compared to other networks, launching a media campaign against rivals.
- As votes were counted, results more closely matched Filber's projections, validating some of his predictions.
- Eyal Berkovich apologized to Filber, admitting his prior dismissal of the pollster's forecasts was wrong.
Public relations executive Rani Rahav publicly criticized Shlomo Filber, director of a polling institute, on Wednesday, questioning his election forecasts. Rahav's remarks came in response to Filber's attempt to explain the discrepancies between his pre-election predictions and the actual results of the 2026 elections.
Rahav directly addressed Filber on social media, asking, "How did you drop from 68 to 54?" This jab referred to the significant difference between the 68 seats initially predicted for the right-wing bloc and the 54 seats they ultimately secured. Filber, in his defense, argued that the core assumption about Likud voters shifting to the "change bloc" was incorrect, stating that "no one left the right bloc." He acknowledged, however, that his institute and others failed to predict the high turnout of Arab voters and that the "Lieberman event" would need examination.
Filber's defense was accompanied by a screenshot from Channel 14, highlighting that while other networks predicted 19-21 seats for Likud, Channel 14 forecast 30. As actual votes were counted, the numbers aligned more closely with Filber's predictions, leading Channel 14 to launch a strong media campaign against competing pollsters. The channel released a video titled "On the Verge of Tears: Channel 12's Pollster Didn't Know Himself After the Exit Poll Update" and published a critical article about pollster Manu Geva's "miss."
Meanwhile, media personality Eyal Berkovich, on his radio show, acknowledged that Netanyahu had effectively won the election given his final seat count. Berkovich also apologized to Filber, admitting he had previously dismissed Filber's predictions as false. "Filber was right, I take my hat off and apologize to him for saying he was lying," Berkovich stated.
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