1. Yes. 2. Likud loses unchallenged hegemony over the Right, and Israel gets an important voice within the Right to resist such evils as self-destructive land concessions and ineffective strategies to Ghazan provocations. 3. Bear in mind that in a parliamentary democracy such as Israel, minor parties are important.
Was their decision to leave Jewish Home as bad a miscalculation as it looks like from this side of the pond?