As many as 40% of Israelis are in support of a unity government between Blue and White, Likud and Yisrael Beytenu.
By JERUSALEM POST STAFFHeads of the Blue and White party, Benny Gantz and Yair Lapid. Avigdor Liberman, Head of rightist Yisrael Beiteinu party. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the weekly cabinet meeting, December 2, 2018(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)
The Israeli public support the idea of a unity government between Blue and White, the Likud and Yisrael Beytenu, a poll by newspaper Israel Hayom shows.40% of the general public would prefer such a unity government, 28% would prefer a narrow right-wing government and 17% percent would prefer a left-wing narrow government.Among the ultra-Orthodox voters, there's a clear preference of 53% supporting a right wing government, with 38% supporting a unity government. Among UTJ and Shas voters the support for a right wing government was 75% and 73% respectively. This poll further revealed that had elections been held this week, the right wing bloc would have received 53 mandates, the center-left bloc would have received 58 mandates, and Yisrael Beytenu would still have the ability to tip the scales either way with 9 mandates.Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu continues to stay ahead of Gantz in terms of support for being prime minister, with 43% of the public, compared to Blue and White leader Benny Gantz's 41% (the remaining 16% had no preference). Some cited the prime minister being in the midst of various investigations as the reason for their decreasing support.Government negotiations have been in deadlock ever since the previous election concluded on September 17th, with the mandate to form a government first going to Netanyahu, who fortified himself with the right wing bloc though he was unable to form the government. The mandate was then given to Gantz who has until Wednesday of this week to form a government, or he too will be forced to return it to President Reuven Rivlin.On Thursday, Gantz met with Yisrael Beytenu leader, Avigdor Liberman in order to try and reach an agreement that will prevent a third election, though the two so far have only agreed to continue negotiations.
