The situation of the ruling Likud party is getting worse at the height of the combined health and economic crises created by the spread of the coronavirus, but the rightwing bloc is remaining about the same, according to a new News 12 poll conducted by Mano Geva in collaboration with iPanel.
Had the election been held today, the leading party would still be the Likud, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with 32 seats. But the number of seats the Likud wins according to the current poll is the lowest in a long time. A News 12 poll conducted on July 6, about two weeks ago, showed Likud with 37 seats, and the poll that preceded it gave Likud 40 seats – a sheer drop of 8 seats in one month.
58% of respondents answered that Netanyahu’s performance in managing the coronavirus crisis was “overall bad,” compared with only 38% who said it was “overall good.” 4% of respondents said they don’t know. 54% think Netanyahu functions “overall well,” 42% think he is “overall bad.”
Yair Lapid and Moshe Ya’alon’s Yesh Atid-Telem is getting stronger compared to the previous survey, rising from 15 to 18 seats and positioning itself as the second largest party in Israel. Their former partner, Alternate PM and DM Bnei Gantz’s Blue&White loses two more seats compared to the previous poll, down to a single-digit 9 seats.
So that overall, what used to be the great white hope, the united Blue&White that won 33 seats in the March 2 elections, has gone down to 27 seats.
The Joint Arab List retains its current power with 15 seats, while Naftali Bennett’s Yamina is getting significantly stronger, most likely in response to Bennett’s independent activism against the coronavirus and his successful stint as Defense Minister. Yamina would win 15 seats had the election been held today – an increase of 4 seats compared to the previous poll.
Shas, United Torah Judaism, Meretz and Liberman’s Yisrael Beiteinu retain their power compared to the previous poll: Shas, UTJ and Meretz with 8 seats each, Liberman with 7 seats.
Four parties do not pass the threshold block: the Labor Party led by Amir Peretz gets 1.8% of the respondents’ votes in the survey; Derech Eretz led by Yoaz Handel and Zvi Hauser only 0.3%, Gesher led by Minister Orly Levy-Abekasis with 0.2%, and the most embarrassing score of them all: Habayit Hayehudi led by Rafi Peretz gets 0.0% of the votes.
The rightwing bloc gets 63 seats; the center-left-Arabs bloc only 50 seats; and Liberman gets 7 seats. In the previous survey, the rightwing bloc had 64 seats and the center-left-Arabs bloc had 48.