Right-wing bloc strengthens, Yamina second largest party - poll
Respondents were also given various scenarios if the leadership of different parties were to change.
By CODY LEVINEPeople vote in Jerusalem on election day, March 2, 2020.(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM)
A new poll published on Friday by the pro-Netanyahu Israel Hayom newspaper shows a growth in support for the Religious-Right bloc at the expense of the Center-Left-Arab bloc, with the religious-Zionist Yamina Party becoming the second largest party after Netanyahu's Likud Party.According to new the poll, if elections were held today, the Likud Party would receive 31 mandates, followed by 20 mandates for Naftali Bennett's Yamina Party, 17 for the Joint List 17 and 13 for Yair Lapid's Yesh Atid-Telem Party. Alternate Prime Minister Benny Gantz's Blue and White party would receive 10 seats, followed by Shas with nine seats, Yisrael Beytenu with eight, the United Torah Judaism (UTJ) Party with seven and Meretz with five seats.Labor, Derech Eretz and Bayit Yehudi would not pass the electoral threshold, according to the Israel Hayom poll.In this poll, the religious-Right bloc would receive 67 seats, while the Center-Left bloc would only have 28 seats without the support of Yisrael Beytenu and the Joint List.Israel Hayom also conducted polls on various scenario based on the inclusion of different Israeli public figures or changes in the leadership of Israeli political parties.The poll asked respondents how replacing current Yesh Atid-Telem chairman Yair Lapid with sitting MK Ofer Shelah would it affect their preferences.In this case, the Likud Party would gain two seats for 33 mandates, followed by Yamina with one less at 19, the Arab Joint List with 17, Yesh Atid-Telem losing two for 11, Blue and White gaining one 11, and the rest the same: Shas with nine, Yisrael Beytenu with eight, UTJ with seven, and Meretz at five.Respondents were also asked about their voting intentions if Gabi Ashkenazi were to replace Benny Gantz as the head of the Blue and White party, with little change in the results.According to this scenario, the Likud Party would receive 32 mandates, followed by Yamina with 19, the Joint List with 17, Yesh Atid-Telem with 13 like the first poll, Blue and White with 11, Shas at nine, Yisrael Beytenu with eight, UTJ at seven, followed by Meretz with four seats.A similar scenario poll was done in the event that former IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eizenkot and current Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai form a party to run together in the next election, with the results leading to a shift of support from both Blue and White and Yesh Atid-Telem to this new party.
In this scenario, the Likud would remain on top with 32 seats, followed by Yamina at 18, the Joint List at 17, Eizenkot-Huldai at 11, Shas with 10, Yesh Atid-Telem at nine, Yisrael Beytenu and UTJ attaining seven each, Blue and White shrinking to six seats, followed by Meretz just passing the electoral threshold at three.Respondents were also asked to grade the quality of leadership amid the coronavirus pandemic and a potential looming lockdown facing the country. According to the poll, 59% of Israelis described the current situation as bad or very bad, while 25% described it as neither bad or good, and 16% saying its good or very good.Similarly, respondents were asked about their degree of trust in the country's law enforcement, with 54% saying there has been a drop in trust, 40% saying their trust has remained the same, and 6% having more trust in law enforcement.
