Benjamin Netanyahu heading to cabinet meeting, May 14th, 2023
Benjamin Netanyahu heading to cabinet meeting, May 14th, 2023Yonatan Sindel/Flash90

Three new polls released Sunday evening show the right-wing – religious bloc regaining some of its lost electoral strength, following the conclusion of the five-day Operation Shield and Arrow in the Gaza Strip.

The first poll, conducted by Project Midgam and published by Channel 13, found that if new elections were held today, the Likud would rise from 24 seats in the previous poll, released a week ago, to 25 mandates, with the right-wing – religious bloc rising from 52 seats to 56.

The National Unity party also gained a single seat, rising to 30 mandates, even as the Opposition parties lost a combined four seats since last week, falling from 68 seats to 64.

Yesh Atid tumbled one seat, to 18, in the new poll, as did Yisrael Beytenu, falling to five seats. Labor and Meretz both failed to cross the electoral threshold.

Among the Arab factions, the United Arab List (Ra’am) rose one seat to six mandates, while Hadash-Ta’al held steady at five, and Balad remained below the 3.25% electoral threshold.

Shas received 10 seats, the same as in the previous poll, while United Torah Judaism rose from seven to eight seats.

The Religious Zionist Party gained one seat, for a total of eight, while Otzma Yehudit rose from four to five seats.

A second poll, conducted by Midgam for Channel 12, showed a smaller net gain of just two seats for the current Coalition factions, from 52 seats to 54, with the Likud rising from 24 seats to 27, tying with National Unity and far ahead of Yesh Atid with 18, while the Religious Zionist Party alliance with Otzma Yehudit tumbled from 11 to 10, tying with Shas.

UTJ held steady at seven seats, followed by Yisrael Beytenu with six, and Meretz, Hadash-Ta’al, and the United Arab List with five each. Balad and Labor failed to clear the electoral threshold.

The third poll, conducted by Kantar and published by Kan, projected a four-seat gain for the right-wing bloc, from 51 seats to 55, in comparison to the previous Kantar poll, released on April 30th.

The Likud now leads National Unity, 28 to 26, after trailing it 25 to 30 in the previous poll. Yesh Atid held steady at 18, followed by Shas and the Religious Zionist Party-Otzma Yehudit alliance at 10 apiece, UTJ with 7, Yisrael Beytenu and Hadash-Ta’al with six each, United Arab List with five, Meretz with four, and Labor and Balad again below the threshold.

A fourth poll, by Direct Polls and published by Channel 14, showed the most favorable results for the right-wing bloc, but was unchanged from the previous poll by the agency, released on April 30th.

Both times, Direct Polls projected the rightist bloc receiving 58 seats, including 31 for the Likud.

In the current poll, Shas received 10 seats, followed by 7 for UTJ, and five each for Otzma Yehudit and the RZP.

In the Opposition, National Unity received 27 seats, followed by Yesh Atid with 16 seats, the United Arab List with five, and Hadash-Ta’al and Meretz with four each. Balad and Labor failed to cross the minimum threshold.