The Likud party has reversed its downward trend in the polls, regaining some of its lost electoral strength and reversing a months-long slump, according to a new poll released Sunday night.
The poll, conducted by Prof. Camil Fuchs on behalf of Channel 13, found that if new elections were held today, the Likud would remain the largest faction in the Knesset with 29 seats.
While that is down significantly from the 36 seats the Likud currently has, it marks a two-seat rise over the previous poll by Fuchs, which showed the Likud down to 27 seats.
The rightist bloc would win a clear majority if new elections were held today, with 65 of the Knesset’s 120 seats, compared to 48 seats for the left-wing – Arab bloc and seven seats for Yisrael Beytenu, which declined by a single seat in this Sunday’s poll.
Blue and White, which had fallen to just eight seats in the last poll, conducted in mid-October, rose to 10 seats Sunday, while Yesh Atid-Telem fell from 21 seats to 20.
The Joint Arab List received 12 seats in the poll, up from eleven, while the far-left Meretz held steady at six seats.
The rightist Yamina faction fell from 24 seats to 22 in Sunday’s poll, while Shas fell from eight seats to seven, and United Torah Judaism held steady at seven seats.
Labor, Gesher, Derech Eretz, and the Jewish Home all failed to cross the 3.25% electoral threshold. Otzma Yehudit was not included in the poll.
The poll also found that a majority of Israelis disapprove of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s handling of the coronavirus, with just 16% saying they are satisfied with his handling of the crisis and 25% saying they are mostly satisfied, compared to 54% who are not satisfied.
More than two-thirds of respondents (69%) believe Israel will go through a third lockdown, compared to just 16% who say they don’t anticipate a third lockdown.
Nevertheless, Netanyahu remains the most popular candidate for the premiership, with the backing of 36% of respondents, compared to 21% who favor Naftali Bennett, 15% who prefer Yair Lapid, and just 11% who prefer Alternate Prime Minister Benny Gantz.
