National Unity leader MK Benny Gantz would be able to form a coalition if Israel held elections now, a dramatic Friday morning Maariv poll found.
According to the new poll, a 69-seat coalition consisting of National Unity, Yesh Atid, Yisrael Beytenu, Hadash-Ta'al, Ra'am, Labor and Meretz could be formed if an election was held today.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud Party tied with National Unity on 26 mandates, continuing the Likud's recent downward trend in the polls, also seen with other coalition factions. Yesh Atid, led by opposition head Yair Lapid, won 19 seats in the poll, trailing by seven behind Netanyahu and Gantz.
National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir's Otzma Yehudit crashed in the poll to only four seats, assuming it will run in a separate list to the Religious Zionist Party (RZP).
Amid disappointment from the Otzma Yehduit leader's support over the prime minister's decision to block Jewish access to Temple Mount until Ramadan's end, Ben-Gvir's faction would receive only four seats, while RZP's five seats won, as per the poll, would put see the two factions lose five seats in comparison to the 14 won in last year's joint run in the election.
The haredi (ultra-Orthodox) Shas and United Torah Judaism factions remained stable on nine and seven seats won respectively.
A potential government could be formed without Hadash-Ta'al
On the Left, both Labor and Meretz cross the electoral threshold in Maariv's poll, retaining and gaining four seats each, respectively.
MK Mansour Abbas' Ra'am faction won four seats in the Maariv poll while Hadash-Ta'al won six, meaning a potential Gantz-led coalition could also be formed without the support of Hadash-Ta'al, considered too extreme in its views for some bloc members.