It was there, was there a missed opportunity here that you could think of that we could have convinced the American people that there's a threat here?

First of all, for half of the American people, Donald Trump is the threat, and we're not going to win them.

And then the other half, even I went to fill up gas, and it was 469, and I thought I got screwed by Donald Trump.

But we need to look at, from our perspective in Israel, the serious issues.

And the June 25 war set back the nuclear threat significantly.

This war did not deal with that very much.

This war dealt with a missile threat, and it set that back significantly.

What accounts for this?

Gil Hoffman again.

Well, he came back from his posting as I-Israel's very high profile ambassador to the United Nations as this international star who knew how to talk to the world.

And that was seen as something that nobody else could do like him, and, uh, so th- because that was so respected, that helped him rise through the ranks of the Likud very quickly, pass up the other Likud princes, the sons of the founders of the party.

He brought a very American mentality.

When it came to campaigning, his approach was very media savvy, markedly different to that of some of his rivals, recalls former Jerusalem Post chief political correspondent Gil Hoffman

He brought political strategists with him.

Instead of what all the other candidates did in staying outside all day where the voting was happening and shaking hands all day and sweating, he would stay in an air-conditioned truck van, and he would go out every hour for ten minutes, and in between, he would shower and change his shirt, so he would always look vibrant when he came and met with people.

It, it increased his allure.