40% of Voters Want Unity Government, Poll Shows

A plurality of Israelis want a national unity government consisting of the Likud, Blue and White and Yisrael Beytenu, a poll by Yisrael Hayom said Friday. The poll, taken by the Maagar Mohot organization on Wednesday and Thursday – in the midst of hundreds of Gaza terror rockets falling on southern Israel – showed that 40% of all voters wanted a unity government. 28% prefer a narrow right-wing government centered on the Likud-led right-wing/chareidi bloc. Only 17% support a narrow left-wing government that relies on the United Arab List for support.

The biggest boosters of a unity government are Yisrael Beytenu voters, 81% of whom said that was their preference, while 68% of Blue and White voters said that unity was their choice. Of the right-wing bloc, only 38% overall said they preferred a unity government. Least enthusiastic are United Torah Judaism and Shas voters – of whom 75% and 73% respectively said they preferred a narrow right-wing government.

If elections were held today, however, the poll shows that the left would have a clear advantage. Blue and White would get 33 seats, compared to 31 for the Likud. The United Arab List would be the third largest party, with 13 seats, followed by Shas with 10, Yisrael Beytenu with 9, and United Torah Judaism with 7. Left-wing parties Democratic Camp and Labor would get 6 each, while Yemina, it it were to run as a single unit, would get just 5. With those numbers, Benny Gantz could get to 61 seats, if he could convince the United Arab List and Yisrael Beytenu to join him.

Binyamin Netanyahu, meanwhile, still has a slight advantage as “the people’s choice” for Prime Minister, with 43% preferring him, compared to 41% for Gantz. With that, there was a large group of undecided voters – 16% – who said they had yet to make up their minds. If there is another election, its results could be determined by voter turnout. According to the poll, 83% of leftwing voters of Democratic Camp and Labor said they would definitely vote in another round of elections, as did 74% of Blue and White voters. 67% of Likud voters would go to the polls for the third time in a year, as would 71% of Yemina voters and 68% of Shas voters. Those most likely to go to the polls are UTJ voters, 86% of whom said they would do so, the poll showed.