Survey: With weakening Likud, independent MK may win big in next election
Levy-Abekasis's party stands to win twice the number of seats as Shas, according to the survey.
By MAARIV ONLINEUpdated: APRIL 23, 2018 22:59Israeli Knesset Member Orly Levy(photo credit: KNESSET)
Did Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speech at the torch-lighting ceremony, which caused a major uproar following the incident with Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein and Culture Minister Miri Regev, help him in in an electoral sense? It's not certain at all. A survey published Monday on Channel 2 found that the Likud is weakening, while the party that is expected to surprise in the next elections is MK Orly Levy's, which continues to strengthen.According to the survey, conducted by Yoel Geva and Mina Tzemach at the Midgam research institute, the Likud currently stands at 28 seats, Yair Lapid's Yesh Atid party has 20, the Joint List with 12, Jewish Home with 10, the Zionist Union with 14, Kulanu has 6, Yisrael Beiteinu with 5, Meretz has 6, and a new list by Orly Levy-Abekasis, which continues to hold promise as the biggest surprise of the next elections, has an astonishing 8 seats. Shas continues to scratch the electoral threshold with 4 seats, while United Torah Judaism has 7.The survey's participants were also asked whether last week's torch-lighting ceremony seemed stately, or politicized. 43% responded that it was politicized, and 36% that it was stately. Regarding police commissioner Roni Alsheich, 49% responded that they were satisfied with his performance and only 22% said they were not satisfied.About a week ago, in the shadow of the crisis caused by the override clause, the tensions with Iran in Syria, and the latest developments in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's investigations, a Knesset channel survey run by the research institute Panel Politics was also published. It showed significant public support for the Likud, at 29 seats, while Yair Lapid's Yesh Atid party received only 20 seats.A surprising statistic in that survey is the strengthening of the Jewish Home party, which it showed at 12 seats, surpassing the Zionist Union, headed by Avi Gabbay, which received only 10 seats according to the sample. It also surpassed the Joint List, which dropped to 11 seats.At the bottom of the chart was the Kulanu party, headed by Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon, at nine seats. It was followed by United Torah Judaism with seven seats. Meretz, headed by new chairwoman Tamar Zandberg, also stood at seven Knesset seats.The party which managed, once again, to surpass the electoral threshold, and still stands to be a big surprise, is MK Orly Levy-Abekasis's new party, which won five Knesset seats according to the survey, a similar number to that of Yisrael Beitenu and Shas.