If elections were held today, the new “Yashar” party led by Gadi Eisenkot would become the largest party in Israel with 23 seats, according to a Channel 13 poll aired Wednesday evening. The Likud, led by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, would fall to second place with 22 seats. After recovering in the previous poll, Naftali Bennett’s “Beyachad” party drops by two seats and falls to third place with 15.
Yair Golan’s Democrats and Avigdor Liberman’s Yisrael Beytenu each receive 10 seats in the poll. Shas, United Torah Judaism and Otzma Yehudit each receive 8 seats. Hadash-Ta’al receives 6, while Ra’am and Religious Zionism each receive 5. Failing to cross the electoral threshold are the joint party of Chili Tropper and Yoaz Hendel with 2.2%, Benny Gantz’s Blue and White with 2.1%, and Balad with 1.7%.
The bloc map gives Netanyahu’s opponents 58 seats, Netanyahu’s bloc 51, and the Arab parties 11. Overall, opposition parties would hold 69 seats compared to 51 for the current coalition. Eisenkot also leads Netanyahu in suitability for prime minister, with 46% saying he is better suited for the job, compared to 36% for Netanyahu and 18% who said they do not know.
Channel 13 also examined a scenario involving mergers in the political system. In that case, a joint Hadash-Ta’al and Balad list would win 10 seats and push Ra’am down to 4. A joint party of Benny Gantz and Dedi Simchi would still fail to cross the threshold with 2.1%, as would a party led by Gilad Erdan, Ayelet Shaked and Yuli Edelstein with 1.6%. In that scenario, Netanyahu’s coalition bloc would drop to 49 seats, while the anti-Netanyahu bloc would remain at 58 and the Arab parties would rise to 14.
The poll also asked whether the government must obey rulings of the Supreme Court. A large majority of the public, 62%, said the government must obey in all circumstances, while 28% said it does not have to and 10% said they do not know. Among coalition voters, only 9% said the government must obey court rulings, while 74% said it does not have to and 17% said they do not know.
Another question dealt with the proposed bill that would prevent the arrest of Chareidi draft evaders. Fifty-six percent of the public opposes the bill, while 29% support it and 15% said they do not know. Among coalition voters, 68% support the bill, compared to 21% who oppose it and 11% who said they do not know.
Respondents were also asked whether passage of the laws Netanyahu agreed upon with the Chareidi parties would affect their vote in the next election. Fifty-three percent said they have already decided whom they will vote for and it would not affect them. Twenty percent said it would definitely affect their vote, 17% said it could affect their vote, and 9% said they do not know.
(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)