Poll Shows Left-Wing Bloc Reaching 61

A poll in Yisrael Hayom shows Blue and White forging ahead in votes and support, leaving behind the Likud and the right. The poll shows the Benny Gantz-led party getting 37 Knesset seats if elections were held now, compared to just 31 for the Likud. With that, only 59% of eligible Israelis said that as of now they planned to vote in the March 2 elections.

The poll has the United Arab List achieving 14 seats, with 6 for Labor and 4 for the Democratic Camp. Taken together, that would give a leftist government led by Gantz 61 seats, the first time in the course of the three elections any bloc would have enough to form a government without Yisrael Beytenu – assuming that Gantz and the two other IDF Chiefs of Staff would include the UAL in its government.

The poll has Shas and United Torah Judaism getting 8 seats each, Yisrael Beytenu with 8, and the New Right with 5. Without Liberman, the right-wing/chareidi bloc falls to 51 seats, significantly weaker than it currently is.

The above scenario applies if Binyamin Netanyahu leads the Likud in the next election. If Gideon Saar is the candidate, the Likud would still get 31 seats, but Blue and White would get just 33. The United Arab List would gain a seat, to 15, while Shas would jump to 11. UTJ would lose a seat, as would Yisrael Beytenu. With Saar leading the Likud, the poll shows, the right-wing/chareidi bloc would get 56 seats, while the Blue and White/Arab side would have 57 seats.

Netanyahu is still the preferred choice for prime minister, but the wide gap between him and Gantz has shrunk until near-parity. 42% of Israelis want Netanyahu in the post, but 40% said Gantz would be the better choice. 18% had not decided or didn’t know. In a contest against Saar, Gantz is the preferred candidate, with 36% supporting him, and just 31% choosing Saar. One third said they would have to think about it.

In one area Gantz has a clear advantage over Netanyahu. 43% of Israelis blame the prime minister for failing to form a unity government, while only 5% blame Gantz. 30% blame Avigdor Liberman, 6% blame Yair Lapid, and 2% the chareidi parties.

As far as what they hope the results of the next election will be, 30% said they still wanted a unity government. 20% said they wanted a strictly right-wing government, while only 15% said they wanted a left-wing one.