Otzma Yehudit clears threshold for first time in outlier poll
The poll put the right-wing bloc at 60 seats, even without Yisrael Beytenu, the most it has had in any recent poll.
By LAHAV HARKOVThe far-right Otzma Yehudit Party registers for the September elections(photo credit: DAVID DIMOLFETTA)
The far-right Otzma Yehudit Party passed the 3.25% electoral threshold in a poll for the first time on Thursday, netting four seats in a Knesset Channel survey, but they remained below the threshold in two other new polls.The poll put the right-wing bloc at 60 seats, even without Yisrael Beytenu, the most it has had in any recent poll.Otzma leader Itamar Ben-Gvir celebrated the results, saying: “All the polls show a continuing rise for Otzma Yehudit… Now it’s clear why there is an attack on Otzma Yehudit from all directions... Otzma Yehudit will ensure the Right is in power.”The results came the day after Likud switched its strategy toward Otzma from trying to get it to quit or collaborate with other parties on the Right, to open attack.On Wednesday evening, a senior Likud source said that “after a deep examination of dozens of polls taken out by Likud in the last two weeks, it is clear to us beyond all doubt that Otzma Yehudit is not passing the electoral threshold. In fact, it is very far from the threshold.“Otzma Yehudit burns 2.5 seats’ worth of right-wing votes,” the source added. “In such a fateful election, in which the right-wing bloc is in danger and the Likud is behind [Blue and White leaders Yair] Lapid and [Benny] Gantz, we cannot waste votes.”The Knesset Channel poll has Likud and Blue and White tied at 31 seats each, followed by the Joint List and Yamina at 10 each. Yisrael Beytenu received nine seats, UTJ eight, Shas seven, Democratic Union five, Labor-Gesher five and Otzma four.The poll was conducted on September 4, with 512 adults participating, making up a representative sample of Israeli adults. The margin of error is 4.4%.However, Otzma did not pass the threshold in polls released on Channels 12 and 13 on Thursday evening.In Channel 13’s poll, Likud and Blue and White each received 32 seats, followed by Yisrael Beytenu with 11 and Yamin and the Joint List with 10 each.
UTJ garnered eight seats, Shas and Democratic Union six each, and Labor-Gesher five.Likud and Blue and White were tied at 32 in Channel 12’s poll, as well.Next was the Joint List with 10 seats, and Yamina and Yisrael Beytenu receiving nine each. UTJ followed with eight seats, then Shas and Democratic Union at seven and Labor-Gesher at six.In both polls, there are 56 seats that would recommend Netanyahu, and 45 to recommend Gantz on Channel 12, 43 for Gantz on Channel 13.
