A poll conducted by Shvakim-Panorama for the Voice of Israel government radio station shows the Yisrael Beiteinu (Israel is Our Home) party gaining popularity. A survey of 491 Israeli adults showed the party winning 15 seats, leaving it tied with Labor as the third-largest Knesset faction. The poll was conducted on Wednesday, January 14.
The poll also shows the Kadima party, led by Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, dropping to 21 seats while Likud remains strong with 28. The Shas party is expected to lose one seat for a total of 11, while the Knesset's other hareidi-religious party, United Torah Judaism (UTJ) is up in the polls, with seven seats instead of its current six.
Meretz-New Movement showed no gains or losses, with five seats' worth of support. The Jewish Home and Green parties, which polled below the minimum electoral threshold in earlier surveys, were both over the threshold with three seats each. The newly-reformed National Union party was expected to win three seats as well.
More than 18 percent of those surveyed said they were still unsure which party they would vote for.
Religious Zionists Want Right-Wing Party
A second poll conducted earlier this week surveyed political opinions within the religious-Zionist public. The 403 adults surveyed overwhelmingly preferred a right-wing party that took a strong stance against territorial compromise. The survey was conducted by Maagar Mochot (Brain Base) on behalf of the weekly B'Sheva newspaper.
Seventy-two percent of those surveyed said a party representing the religious-Zionist public should be right-wing. Seventeen percent said such a party should be neither right-wing nor left-wing, and 11 percent said they were unsure. The question was asked following a declaration from Jewish Home head Rabbi Professor Daniel Hershkowitz, who said his party would be neither right nor left politically.
Eighty-three percent of the respondents said any party representing the religious-Zionist public should take a strong stance against withdrawing from the Golan Heights region. Twelve percent said religious-Zionist parties should be open to the possibility of withdrawal, and five percent were unsure.