Polls: Coalition would lose if election held now
Sixty-three per cent of respondents – and 58 per cent of Likud voters – said they opposed Netanyahu's decision to fire Defence Minister Yoav Gallant.
Two polls released on Monday indicated Israel’s current coalition would not succeed in building a government if elections were held today, amid the chaos of its judicial overhaul plans.
The polls published by Channel 12 news and Kan news both showed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party dropping to just 25 seats from the 32 it holds in the current Knesset.
Opposition leader Yair Lapid’s Yesh Atid party would shrink slightly to 22 seats according to both polls, down from 24. But the big winner appears to be National Unity, led by Benny Gantz, who would receive 23 seats, according to Channel 12, and 21 seats according to Kan, soaring from the 12 it holds now.
The polls found the rest of the party distribution would remain similar to that in the current Knesset. The combined Religious Zionism-Otzma Yehudit slate would receive 12 seats according to Channel 12 and 11 seats according to Kan, down from the 14 it controls now.
The Kan poll predicted that left-wing Labor and Meretz – which failed to cross the electoral threshold in last year’s election – would receive four seats each, while Channel 12’s survey suggested that Labor would fall below the threshold and Meretz would receive five seats.
Together the parties in the current coalition – Likud, Shas, United Torah Judaism and Religious Zionism-Otzma Yehudit – would only receive 53 or 54 seats, leaving it far from able to form a 61-seat majority coalition.
Opposition parties Yesh Atid, National Unity, Labor, Meretz, Yisrael Beytenu and Ra’am – all members of the former government – would potentially be able to form a 61 or 62-seat coalition.
Channel 12’s survey showed that 63 per cent of respondents – including 60 per cent of Likud voters – supported a halt to the judicial overhaul legislation, compared to 24 per cent who were opposed. Kan’s poll showed 62 per cent supporting a pause, and 22 per cent opposed.
In the Channel 12 poll, 68 per cent of respondents gave Netanyahu a poor grade for his current performance.
Sixty-three per cent of respondents – and 58 per cent of Likud voters – said they opposed Netanyahu’s decision to fire Defence Minister Yoav Gallant.
The Channel 12 survey was conducted with 502 respondents and a margin of error of 4.4 per cent. The Kan poll was carried out with 600 respondents and a 4.1 per cent margin of error.
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