For Israelis who go to the polls next week, the case for reelecting Bibi is simple: Who else?

To lead the country, prime minister wannabes need to gain 61 supporters in the 120-seat Knesset, and that’s where the trickery begins.

This parliamentary system has evolved in recent years into a referendum on one man, Benjamin Netanyahu, but it still takes coalition-building skills to become prime minister, and Mr. Netanyahu, aka “the Wizard,” has perfected the art.

It is true that public polls indicate that Israelis have soured on their longest-serving leader. Yet his Likud party stands to be the largest Knesset party, while a combination of other, smaller parties are projected to give him the majority. Polls can be wrong. Indications, though, are that the so-called right bloc, led by Likud, will be larger than the anti-Bibi bloc.

Why?

“I was talking with several heads of state” but Mr. Netanyahu “convinced me, frankly, that he would be on top of things,” said Pfizer’s CEO Albert Bourla. So, he told Israel’s Channel 12 television, “we placed our bet on Israel. We’re so happy because the way you executed was beyond our imagination.”

Mr. Bourla detailed Bibi’s obsession with obtaining enough vaccines to immunize Israelis, making endless phone calls including, once, at 3 a.m. The resulting deal: Pfizer supplied Israel enough vaccines to immunize the entire population, while receiving full and accurate data on the effort.

Israel by far leads the world in vaccination. It’s also opening up the country, successfully so far, after a terrible year, complete with four total shutdowns. Leaders the world over are studying this success. Denmark prime minister, Mette Fredriksen, and Austria’s chancellor, Sebastian Kurtz, flew to meet Mr. Netanyahu earlier this month, signing agreements for future joint vaccine-making efforts.

While even Western Europeans begin to warm up to Israel, the Arab world’s detente with Israel is, potentially, even more consequential. Although Mr. Netanyahu’s election-eve trip to the United Arab Emirates was cancelled last week, he reportedly plans yet another “March surprise” with Arab leaders.

The peace drive architect, Jared Kushner, wrote in the Wall Street Journal this week that Oman, Mauritania, and Qatar are “on the brink” of joining the Abraham Accords, and even Saudi Arabia is “in sight.” Last week Kosovo became the first Muslim-majority country to set up an embassy in Jerusalem, where now America has its embassy as well.

Mr. Netanyahu had pushed the idea of “outside-in” regional peace long before Mr. Kushner’s father-in-law, President Trump, became president. That concept — peace with Arab states could be gained before, and lead the way to, a deal with the Palestinians — was widely rejected by Washington’s striped pants set. Foggy Bottom insisted that nothing would be possible before Israel makes enough concessions to get the Palestinian leadership on board.

As in the Pfizer case, Mr. Netanyahu pushed and pushed until he found, in Messrs. Trump and Kushner, American partners who understood the dynamic. Inside-out peacemaking was replaced with outside-in, and now, as Mr. Kushner puts it, Jews “feel more comfortable wearing a yarmulke in Dubai than in France.”

Bibi’s Israel has become attractive not only for its modern, easygoing lifestyle, innovation, military capabilities, and great beaches. It’s economy is a magnet to investors, largely because of Mr. Netanyahu’s insistence on turning away from the rigid socialism of Israel’s founders and replacing it with a free economy boosted by a social safety net. The country’s mandatory but competitive HMO-based health insurance system, which enabled the vaccination effort, is one example of this hybrid economic model.

By now Mr. Netayahu’s once-revolutionary ideas have become widely accepted by mainstream politicians. His competitors rarely stray radically from his free economy, skepticism of the Palestinian propaganda, security-oriented style of governing. Instead, they promise Bibi-less Bibi-ism.

In the last three election rounds new parties promised uncorrupt government that would build on Mr. Netanyahu’s successes but will forgo his supposedly lavish lifestyle and alleged corruption. The latest, the New Hope party, is led by Gideon Saar, a former Likud scion who promises to shun a Netanyahu-led coalition. Initial enthusiasm, however, has dimmed as Mr. Saar’s poll numbers sink after a, so far, lackluster campaign.

Support for the big hope of the last election, Benny Gantz, a former chief of Israel Defense Forces, has dipped since joining last year a coalition with Mr. Netanyahu. Meanwhile, as Mr. Gantz may leave politics altogether after a projected disappointment in next week’s election, his former party running mate, Yair Lapid, is widely seen now as Mr. Netayahu’s top competitor.

A former journalist, Mr. Lapid this time around decided to forgo his sharp-tongue political style in favor of a Biden-like campaign. That is, he is saying no more than necessary and promising little beyond “I’m no Bibi,” while his party, Yesh Atid, rises among the anti-Netanyahu crowd.

The fact remains that the country’s Left, which once dominated politics, is shrinking, while everyone else is looking for a leader like Bibi. Mr. Netayahu meantime has secured the support of the orthodox parties, and he even tries to make inroads to Arab voters he once disparaged, calculating they may become king makers this time.

Last week, in this space, I sketched the case against Mr. Netanyahu. There are chunks of Israel’s population for whom his shtick has worn thin. And there is no doubt that Israeli cemeteries are populated by irreplaceable people.

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Twitter @bennyavni