Public wants unity gov’t with Blue and White, Likud - poll
Likud, Blue and White voters divided on preferred coalition
By GIL HOFFMANA Likud party election campaign billboard depicting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is seen above a billboard depicting Benny Gantz, leader of Blue and White party, in Petah Tikva, Israel(photo credit: NIR ELIAS / REUTERS)
A national unity government of Likud and Blue and White is the preferred coalition of voters, according to a Panels Politics poll taken Wednesday for The Jerusalem Post and Maariv.Asked what government they preferred would be formed after the election, 26% said a coalition of just Likud and Blue and White, and another 16% said Likud, Blue and White and Yisrael Beytenu, for a total of 42% who want a unity government. A coalition of right-wing and religious parties was preferred by 23% of respondents, 19% chose a center-left government of Blue and White and Labor-Gesher-Meretz backed from outside the coalition by the Joint List, and 16% said they did not know.When divided by parties, a large majority of Joint List voters preferred a government backed by their party, Shas and Yamina voters preferred a right-wing coalition, and Yisrael Beytenu voters preferred a unity government that would include their party.Likud voters were divided between those who preferred a unity government with Blue and White and those who preferred a coalition with right-wing and religious parties. Among Blue and White voters, 62% preferred a unity government, and 27% chose a left-wing coalition backed by the Joint List.Just like last week’s poll, the survey found that if the March 2 election would be held today, Likud would win 33 seats, three less than Blue and White. The 36 seats for Blue and White would bring into the Knesset the party’s new Anglophone candidate, attorney Michal Cotler-Wunsh, who has lived much of her life in Montreal and is former Canadian justice minister Irwin Cotler’s daughter.The rest of the poll numbers were also similar to last week. The Joint List would win 13 seats, eight each for Labor-Gesher-Meretz, United Torah Judaism and Yamina and seven each for Shas and Yisrael Beytenu.The far-right Otzma Yehudit would receive 2.8% of the vote, just under the 3.25% needed to enter the Knesset.The parties whose voters said they were most likely to cast ballots are Otzma Yehudit and UTJ. The parties whose voters were most sure they will vote for them are UTJ and Shas. The party whose supporters were least likely to vote is Yisrael Beytenu. The parties whose voters were least loyal to their party are Labor-Gesher-Meretz, Yamina and Yisrael Beytenu.
