New Israeli Elections Poll Shows Likud Slipping, Naftali Bennett’s Party on the Rise
by Zach Pontz
A new poll released by Israel Radio Thursday showed that the Likud-Yisrael Beytenu ticket is still the favorite to win next month’s elections in Israel with 34 seats in the Knesset.
Labor placed second with less than half the projected Knesset seats of its competitor, with 16.
Naftali Bennett’s party, Bayit Yehudi, was unaffected by his recent controversial statements and is projected to come in a close third, with 15 seats.
The ascendant right-wing politician made headlines last week in an interview with Israel’s Channel 2, saying, “If I receive an order to evict a Jew from his house and expel him, personally, my conscience wouldn’t allow it.”
Other results of the poll showed Shas getting 13 seats; Tzippy Livni’s “Hatnua” party with 11; Yair Lapid’s “Yesh Atid” with 9; United Torah Judaism with 6; Meretz with five; Hadash and Arab party Ra’am-Ta’al with 4 each; and Arab party Balad with 3.
Political commentators on Israel Radio noted the continued slide of the Likud-Yisrael Beytenu list, which has been hurt by the charisma of Bennett, as well as the legal troubles of Avigdor Lieberman. The latest poll also shows the once-strong Kadima failing to get into the Knesset at all in the next elections.