A Channel 12 News poll published on Friday found that if elections were to be held today, the Likud would lose one seat but still remain comfortably ahead of Yair Lapid and Moshe Ya’alon’s Yesh Atid-Telem party, which would be the second largest party in the Knesset.
The ruling party has 31 seats in this poll, one less than it had in a poll conducted about two weeks ago. Yesh Atid-Telem is the second largest party in the Knesset with 18 seats, two more than Naftali Bennett’s Yamina party which would win 16. Benny Gantz’s Blue and White party falls to 11 seats in this poll.
The haredi parties, Shas and United Torah Judaism, each win 8 seats. Avigdor Liberman’s Yisrael Beytenu remains at 7 and Meretz, which closes out the list, has only 6 seats.
The right-wing bloc maintains its power with 63 seats, despite the decline of the Likud.
Four parties do not pass the electoral threshold in this poll: Labor, Derech Eretz, Jewish Home and Gesher.
In recent weeks, the name of former chief of staff Gadi Eizenkot has emerged as a candidate to replace Benny Gantz as leader of Blue and White. But even if that does happen, the poll found, the picture will hardly change. In a situation where Eizenkot leads Blue and White, it wins 12 seats, with the additional seat coming at the expense of Yesh Atid-Telem.
On the question of suitability for the position of Prime Minister, Netanyahu continues to be viewed as the most suitable candidate, and the gap between him and most of the other candidates is at double digits. When facing Gantz, 38% of respondents responded that Netanyahu is the most suitable and only 19% preferred Gantz.
Even when he faces Yair Lapid, the gap remains high at 24% in favor of Netanyahu. When asked who is more suitable for Prime Minister - Netanyahu or Eizenkot, 43% preferred Netanyahu and only 18% preferred the former Chief of Staff.
The only one who succeeds in challenging Prime Minister Netanyahu on the question of suitability for Prime Minister is Bennett. The gap between the two stands at only 10% in favor of Netanyahu, 36% to 26%.
(Arutz Sheva’s North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Arutz Sheva articles, however, is Israeli time.)