For the first time in the current election campaign, the average of the five most recent polls shows Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud ahead of Benny Gantz's Blue & White party.
The change in fortunes follows the publication of last night's poll by Kan Channel 11, which projected the Likud winning 35 seats and Blue & White 34. The Joint Arab list maintains its strong showing with 14 seats but Labor-Gesher-Meretz has weakened to 8 seats and Kan projects Yisrael Beitenu winning only six seats. Shas and United Torah Judaism would both win eight seats and Yamina would win seven seats.
Nevertheless, the polls project a situation in which the overall deadlock has not been broken with neither the Likud nor Blue & White able to form a government without each other, unless Avigdor Liberman's Yisrael Beitenu comes off the fence.
The final polls will be published later today ahead of the election on Monday, March 2.
In the average of the five most recently published polls, the projected results, in terms of Knesset seats for each party, are as follows:
Likud 34
Blue & White 33
Joint Arab List 14
Labor-Gesher-Meretz 9
Shas 8
United Torah Judaism 8
Yamina 7
Yisrael Beitenu 7
Otzma Yehudit 0
The polls on which the average is based are: Kan, February 27; Kan, February 25; Channel 12 News, February 24; Channel 12 News, February 23; Kan, February 23.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on February 28, 2020
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