MK Shelly Yachimovich
MK Shelly YachimovichIsrael news photo: Flash 90

A Knesset Channel poll indicates that if elections were held today, Labor would receive 6 more seats than it currently holds, rising from 15 seats to 21.

Likud / Yisrael Beytenu would shrink from its current 31 seats to an abysmal 26 seats.

Yair Lapid's Yesh Atid would sink, too, from 19 to 17 seats, while Naftali Bennett's Bayit Yehudi would rise slightly, from 12 to 13 seats.

Shas dips from 11 to 10 seats, and UTJ loses one seat as well, going from 7 to 6.

Meretz grows two seats stronger, from 6 to 8 seats, whereas Tzipi Livni's Hatnua shrinks from 6 to 4.

These results, if they reflect public opinion, should come as a shock to nationalists, since they show Likud and Yisrael Beytenu down to a total of 26 seats from a total of 42 until the last elections (Likud had 27 seats and Yisrael Beytenu 15, in the 19th Knesset). This means that the "right wing and religious bloc," as it was known until the latest elections – which includes Likud, Yisrael Beytenu, Bayit Yehudi, UTJ and Shas – has only 55 seats and cannot rule without Yesh Atid.

Even when one looks at the parties that form the current coalition, the situation has worsened for nationalists. Whereas the current coalition can survive a defection by Livni's movement, if Likud were down to 26 seats, it could not.