The Channel 12 news survey came a day after a Channel 13 news poll asking the same question found the prospective party would win 34 seats, and as Bennett again eclipsed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in head-to-head matchups on who is better suited to be premier.
In the Channel 12 poll, Netanyahu’s Likud would be the second biggest with 18 seats, followed by Benny Gantz’s National Unity, which recently exited the coalition, at 17, Opposition Leader Yair Lapid’s Yesh Atid at 13, a left-wing union of the Labor and Meretz parties at 11, Shas at 10, United Torah Judaism at 8, Otzma Yehudit at 8, Hadash-Ta’al at 5 and Ra’am at 5.
Including the right-wing alliance, the opposition would in such an eventuality win 71 seats in the 120-seat legislature, not including Hadash-Ta’al, which isn’t aligned with either bloc.
If parties remain as they are today, aside from the joint Labor-Meretz ticket, the poll said National Unity would be the largest party with 23, while Likud had 20, Yesh Atid 15, Yisrael Beytenu 14, Labor-Meretz 11, Shas 10, Otzma Yehudit 9, UTJ 8, Hadash-Ta’al 5 and Ra’am 5.
The current opposition would in such an eventuality win 68 seats, again not including Hadash-Ta’al.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s far-right Religious Zionist party — part of Netanyahu’s ruling coalition along with Shas, Otzma Yehudit and UTJ — did not clear the minimum vote threshold in either scenario. READ MORE