Three opinion polls conducted for Israel's main TV news channels published last night showed the immediate impact of Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai's new center-left party The Israelis.
According to the average of the three polls conducted on behalf of Channels 11,12 and 13, if the March 23 Knesset elections were held yesterday then The Israelis would win eight seats. Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud remains the strongest party with 28 seats with Likud rebel Gideon Sa'ar's New Hope polling 17 seats and Naftali Bennett's Yamina winning 13 seats. Yair Lapid's Yesh Atid-Telem wins 12 seats, the United Arab List wins 11 seats, Shas and United Torah Judaism eight seats each, Avigdor Liberman's Yisrael Beitenu six seats, Meretz five seats, and Benny Gantz's disintegrating Blue & White four seats, barely above the minimum threshold.
Since the last polls Netanyahu's Likud has strengthened at the expense of Sa'ar and Yamina, while Huldai's entry has weakened Yesh Atid, Blue & White and even Meretz.
The results show a divided country and highly fluid situation. Many parties remain well below the four seat threshold including Labor, Ofer Shelah's new party and Orly Levy-Abekasis and mergers can be expected.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on December 31, 2020
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