Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has become the leading Israeli politician on Facebook, surpassing more than 200,000 “likes.”

A poll, conducted by the company Spythenet, determined that the majority, if not all, of Netanyahu’s statuses have received thousands of “likes” and comments, as well as hundreds of shares, while other Israeli politicians lag far behind.

All of the Prime Minister’s statuses are translated into English, which may be a product of his American education, or his understanding of the far-reaching implications of social networking sites.

The Prime Minister’s most popular status, to date, has been about the birthday of his father, Ben-Zion Netanyahu, which received 6,713 “likes,” elicited 1241 comments and 332 shares. In addition, 1 out of every 10.9 of the Prime Minister’s friends “likes,” comments, or shares his postings.

Furthermore, The Marker website found that Netanyahu’s other pages, hosted by the Likud, are all widely accessed and extremely popular.

The surge in the Prime Minister’s Facebook popularity is also particularly important due to the effect of social networking sites on the way in which people receive and relay information, which increasingly dominates popular opinion and even political policy. (IsraelNationalNews © 2012 04/09/12)