The Likud would become the largest party in the Knesset if new elections were held today, a new poll released Thursday shows.
According to a Maagar Mohot poll published by Israel Hayom Thursday evening, the Likud would become the largest party in the Knesset if new elections were held today, with 29 seats. That’s a six-seat drop from its present 35 mandates.
But the center-left Blue and White party, which also won 35 seats in the April 9th election, would fall even further, receiving just 28 seats if new elections were held today.
The beneficiary of the Blue and White’s decline is former Defense Minister Avidgor Liberman’s Yisrael Beytenu party, which has been aggressively campaigning for the votes of Russian-speakers and secular right-of-center voters who had previously backed Blue and White.
In the previous Israel Hayom poll, released last Thursday, Blue and White was projected to win 31 seats, compared to eight for Yisrael Beytenu. Now that Blue and White has fallen by three seats to 28, Yisrael Beytenu has risen by three to 11.
The United Right party led by Ayelet Shaked would win 13 seats if it runs with the Otzma Yehudit party, a decline of three mandates compared to last week’s poll.
The two haredi parties, United Torah Judaism and Shas, which each won eight seats in April, would fall to seven seats apiece if new elections were held today.
The Labor party, which fell to a historic low of six seats in April, is projected to win just five seats in the new poll.
The left-wing Democratic Camp, an alliance of the far-left Meretz with the new Israel Democratic Party, would win eight seats, the poll showed.
The newly-reformed Joint List, a merger of four Arab parties, would win 12 seats if new elections were held today, an increase of two seats compared to their present 10.
The right-wing – religious bloc would receive a total of 67 seats if new elections were held today – but only 56 without Yisrael Beytenu, five below the 61 necessary for a majority government.
The left-wing – Arab bloc, by contrast, would win just 53 seats.