Israeli advisers help Georgian presidential candidate win

In a difficult and unpredictable election against the Georgian opposition, an election campaign full of dramatic turnarounds, changes of support, protests and pbadionate speeches ended today with the victory of Salomé Zorabashvili, the first woman in the history of Georgia to hold the position of president.

The Israeli strategic advisers of President-elect Moshe Klughaft and Sefi Shaked were at the center of the second round of elections. They arrived in Georgia after winning the general elections in Romania as well as other campaigns. Klughaft became a central target of opposition attacks, claiming that he "did not understand the Georgian mentality".

The presidential candidate, who was previously Georgia's foreign minister and French ambbadador to Georgia, completely reversed the situation after barely reaching the second round. Polls earlier this month showed that she was 12% behind right-wing candidate Grigol Vashadze. However, according to all indications, Zorabashvili won the second round with a margin of 58% to 42%.

Salomé Zorabashvili, an independent candidate supported by the ruling party, the Georgian dream, has barely reached the second round. The polls showed that she was in a difficult situation and was suffering from a serious negative impulse against her. Shaked and Klughaft canceled his current leadership – "Together for Georgia", which was too conservative and did not inspire voters. Shaked and Klughaft again photographed the candidate for poster boards and posters closer to the leadership, changed the slogan of the candidate's campaign into a "crucial choice" and brought a much more aggressive to his rival. The campaign then focused on the issue of freedom and pluralism in Georgia about the individual personality.

Among other things, the new campaign has linked Zorabashvili's challenger, Grigol Vashadse of the National Party, to violence, corruption, attacks on opponents of their regime and silencing the party's oldest members. The change of direction of the campaign plunged it into the polls and strengthened the candidate of Klughaft and Shaked. The changing trend has led former President Sakashvili to lose his calm facade. In an interview with Georgian television, Sakashvili said that Zorabashvili had a "Jewish advisor" alongside other anti-Semitic statements. Although former President Sakashvili apologized after the initial storm, Klughaft needed personal security during his last week in the country and was called a "protected citizen" by the government.