A week before elections, a new Channel 2 poll on Tuesday conducted by the Midgam Institute's Dr. Minah Tzemach and Mano Geva together with iPanel indicates that the gap between Labor and Hatnua's "Zionist Camp" and Likud is at the largest yet.
According to the poll, Labor comes in at 25 mandates, while Likud flounders at 21. The findings widen the divide from an earlier poll on Tuesday, which gave Labor 24 versus 21 to Likud.
The four mandate gap is the largest since polling began in the current elections campaign. However, President Reuven Rivlin has clarified he will give first crack at forming a coalition to the candidate with the most recommendations for prime minister.
That state of affairs puts Binyamin Netanyahu in good standing to create the next government given his broader support, despite Labor's widening edge in polls. In fact, back in 2009 Netanyahu enjoyed a similar turn of luck, as he was outpaced by Tzipi Livni's Kadima 28 to 27 but still given the nod to form a government.
Tying for third in the poll is Jewish Home and the joint Arab list at 13 apiece, and Yair Lapid's Yesh Atid slips back to 12 mandates after 14 in the previous poll - the party currently holds 19 mandates.
Moshe Kahlon's Kulanu comes in at eight, Shas gets seven, and United Torah Judaism and Yisrael Beytenu each get six in the poll.
The radical leftist Meretz party gets five seats, and Yachad - Ha'am Itanu's joint list with Otzma Yehudit passes the threshold at four.