The right-wing – religious bloc is projected to win an absolute majority in the 21st Knesset, a new poll by the Midgam firm shows, just days after another poll by the company showed the left-wing – Arab bloc eking out a narrow victory.
On Sunday, a poll by Midgam gave the parties who are least likely to back Binyamin Netanyahu for premier – Blue and White, Labor, Meretz, Gesher, and the two Arab lists – a combined 61 seats in the 120-member Knesset.
But a new Midgam poll published by IDF Radio – Galey Tzahal Wednesday morning shows the right-wing – religious bloc regaining its majority, with a projected 63 seats to the left-Arab bloc’s 57.
The new poll also shows the margin between the center-left Blue and White party and the Likud shrinking from four to two seats. In the previous Midgam survey, Blue and White led the Likud 32 to 28. On Wednesday, however, Blue and White fell to 30 seats, while the Likud remained stable at 28.
Labor remains in third place with 10 seats, identical to its showing in Sunday’s poll – but a sharp fall from its performance in 2015. The joint Zionist Union list of Labor and Hatnuah won 24 seats in the election, including 19 for Labor.
Among the Arab parties, the joint ticket of the communist Hadash and the Arab nationalist Ta’al factions would win eight seats if new elections were held today – compared to seven seats projected in Sunday’s poll. The other Arab list, a joint ticket of the United Arab List and Balad, failed to cross the threshold in the latest Midgam poll, fall from four seats to zero, with just 1.6% of the vote – less than half of the 3.25% necessary to enter the Knesset.
The far-left Meretz party gained a seat in the latest poll, rising from four to five mandates – the same number the party won in 2015.
Former Yisrael Beytenu MK Orly Levy’s Gesher faction is projected to win four seats – the same number as in the previous poll.
The haredi parties remained stable this week, with United Torah Judaism projected to win seven seats and Shas six, identical to the results of Sunday’s poll.
The Union of Right-Wing Parties and the New Right each would win five seats if the election were held today, while the libertarian-leaning Zehut and ex-Defense Minister Avidgor Liberman’s Yisrael Beytenu faction would each win four seats.
The poll also found that an absolute majority (54%) of Israeli adults disapprove of Binyamin Netanyahu’s performance as Prime Minister, with just 35% saying they approve of his performance.