Gideon Sa’ar. Photo: Reuters / Francois Lenoir.

JNS.org – Likud Knesset member Gideon Sa’ar on Wednesday dismissed a poll published the day before showing that under his leadership the party’s number of seats would drop significantly.

The survey, conducted by the Midgam polling agency, found that under Sa’ar the Likud would win only 26 seats, compared to 33 under Netanyahu, Israel National News reported.

In response to the poll, Sa’ar told Army Radio, “I’ve only just begun and I’m already at 26 seats, after the person I’m running against has headed the government for the past 10 years straight.”

Sa’ar said that many former Likud supporters had left the party, but that they could be brought back.

“Every Likud member has friends and neighbors who have left us, but they will come back to vote for the Likud if I’m at the helm,” he said.

Sa’ar has called for the Likud to hold a leadership primary within the next two weeks in order to enable a new leader to attempt to form a government without the country having to return to elections. The Knesset is currently in an unprecedented 21-day period in which any MK may attempt to form a majority government.