Poll Shows Yisrael Beytenu Growing in Strength

A new poll out Friday shows that despite the best efforts of the Likud, Yisrael Beytenu continues to grow in strength. In a new poll taken by the Smith organization on behalf of 103FM radio, Avigdor Liberman’s party would get 10 seats if elections were held today, compared to 9 in recent polls.

The increase of one seat by Yisrael Beytenu makes the prospect of Binyamin Netanyahu’s forming a government even more remote. In the poll, the Likud gets 32 seats, and the Yemina party gets 9. Shas would receive 8 seats and United Torah Judaism 7, for a total of 56 seats for the right-wing bloc. Blue and White would get 28 seats, while Democratic Camp would get 7, and Labor would get 6. Blue and White would thus be able to form a coalition of just 41 seats, assuming they would not include the United Arab List, which would get 11.

The poll also quizzed Yisrael Beytenu voters whom they would prefer to see leading the government, with 43% of supporters preferring a government led by Benny Gantz, and 41% preferring Netanyahu – a difference that was statistically insignificant, the Smith organization said.