5774 will be remembered as the year when Yair Lapid imploded politically. But in the closing days of the year there are signs that Yesh Atid's fortunes are rebounding now that the socio-economic dialogue is to the fore. The latest Rafi Smith opinion poll for "Globes" found that Yesh Atid has gained two seats over the past month, returning to the 11 it had two months ago, although still far below the 19 the party won in the January 2013 elections.
The two seats have been gained at the expense of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud, which has lost three mandates over the past month. It seems Lapid has impressed more than Netanyahu in the discussions over the 2015 budget. Lapid has insisted that taxes won't be raised and it looks like they won't. Lapid has promised 0% VAT on new homes for first time homebuyers and that's probably what will happen.
Minister of Economy's Naftali Bennett Habayit Hayehudi who would win 15 seats if elections were held today, up from 14 last month and 12 in the last elections. The new party of Moshe Kahlon has 6 seats up from 5 last month while Yisrael Beytenu is down two seats to 10 from 12 last month. Even so Netanyahu would still be in a strong position to form a new government if elections were held in the near future.
Poll results
If an election were held today, for which party would you vote?
(Results in terms of Knesset seats, first the current poll, followed by the result of the July poll, and, in parentheses, the number of seats in the current Knesset).
Likud 25, 28 (31)
Yisrael Beytenu 10, 12 (-)
Yesh Atid 11, 9 (19)
Labor 14, 14 (15)
Habayit Hayehudi 15, 14 (12)
Shas 9, 8 (11)
United Torah Judaism 7, 7 (7)
Hatenuah 4, 0 (6)
Meretz 7, 7 (6)
New party under Moshe Kahlon 6, 5 (-)
Hadash 5, 4 (4)
Ra'am-Ta'al 4, 3 (4)
National Democratic Assembly 3, 3 (3)
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on September 23, 2014
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2014