Netanyahu drops in polls, Lapid hits 20, Bennett and Sa'ar tie in third
The survey also found that Naftali Bennett’s Yamina Party had closed the gap with Gideon Sa’ar’s New Hope Party, and both are now at 12 mandates.
By GIL HOFFMANPrime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Yair Lapid(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)
Opposition leader Yair Lapid’s Yesh Atid Party hit the 20-seat mark for the first time on Thursday, when a Panels Research survey taken by pollster Menachem Lazar found that the party gained three seats since last week.The poll for The Jerusalem Post and Ma’ariv found that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud had fallen from 29 seats last week to 27. The seven-seat difference between Likud and Yesh Atid is the smallest gap between the parties since the election campaign began.The survey also found that Naftali Bennett’s Yamina Party had closed the gap with Gideon Sa’ar’s New Hope Party, and both are now at 12 mandates. It was the first Panels poll indicating a tie for third place.The poll found that if the election were to take place now, Yisrael Beytenu would win nine seats, the Joint List and Shas eight, United Torah Judaism seven, and Labor five.Three parties were predicted to win four seats: Blue and White, Meretz and the Religious Zionist Party, with each of them teetering on the 3.25% electoral threshold. Any votes going to parties that don’t cross the threshold do not count toward the distribution of seats in the Knesset.The bloc that wants Netanyahu to form the next government – Likud, Shas, UTJ and the Religious Zionist Party – received 46 seats.The bloc that does not want him to remain prime minister – Yesh Atid, New Hope, Yisrael Beytenu, Labor, Blue and White and Meretz – received 54.Yamina could join forces with the anti-Netanyahu bloc and use its 12 seats to enable the formation of a 66-seat coalition, or 62 seats without Meretz. Bennett has not ruled out joining a government led by Netanyahu, but the poll found that even with Yamina, the prime minister would not have enough support.When asked who is most fit to be prime minister, the gap between Netanyahu and Sa’ar remained at only 1% (42-41%). For the first time, the gap between Netanyahu and Bennett was also only 1% (39-38%).
The gap between Netanyahu and Lapid on fitness to be prime minister is the lowest since the election began: 7% (48-41%).The poll of 571 respondents representing a statistical sample of the Israeli adult population was taken on Thursday and had a margin of error of 4.2%.
