Poll Shows Right, Religious Improving in New Elections

If elections were held today, the right and religious would thrive as never before, while the presence of the left and center-left would fall to unprecedented lows in the Knesset, a new poll released Thursday showed. Taken on behalf of Radio 103, a talk radio station in the Tel Aviv area, the poll shows the Likud, Jewish Home, and Yisrael Beytenu parties all increasing their Knesset presence, with Zionist Camp (Labor) and Kulanu dropping by nearly ten seats.

The likelihood of elections at this time is low, the pollsters said, as several major roadblocks to coalition coexistence – specifically the state budget and the adjustments to the law requiring IDF service by all 18-year-olds – have been resolved. However, the coalition still only has 61 members, meaning that a coalition crisis is still only a vote away, the pollsters for the Ma’agar Mohot organization said – hence, the need for the poll.

The poll shows the Likud, Jewish Home (headed by Naftali Bennett), and Shas all climbing by one seat, to 31, 9, and 8 spots in the new plenum respectively. In addition, Avigdor Liberman’s Yisrael Beytenu – which shrunk to only six seats in the current Knesset – regains some of its strength in new elections, bouncing back to eight seats.

Losing out are Zionist Camp, headed by Yitzchak Herzog, which sinks from 24 to 20 seats, while Kulanu, the party of Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon, drops from its current ten seats to five. Kahlon is believed to have lost many voters because he has been so far unable to deliver on promises he made during the campaign to lower prices on food and housing. “Kahlon was a great political promise, but the fate of promises in politics is to be broken,” said the polling organization. “Hence the sharp disappointment among the voters.

Also growing is Yair Lapid’s Yesh Atid, which rises from 11 seats to 15, and has apparently taken in the seats that Kahlon lost, the pollsters said. Showing no gain or loss are United Torah Judaism, Meretz and United Arab List.

If accurate, the poll would have the center-right/right/religious surpassing 70 seats in the Knesset – the first time that has ever happened – while the center-left/left would fall to below 50 seats.