Shock Knesset Poll: Lapid Runaway Victor in New Elections

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February 21, 2013, 7 PM ET

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A monthly poll carried out the Knesset Channel shows that Yair Lapid’s Future (Yesh Atid) party would win 30 seats in the Knesset if elections were held today, and Likud Beiteinu would be sliced to 22 seats. The Habayit Hayehudi (Jewish Home) party, headed by Naftali Bennett, would dislodge Labor as the third largest party with 15 seats. The poll results by party:

Future – 30
Likud Beiteinu – 22
Jewish Home – 15
Labor – 13
Arab parties – 9
Shas – 9
Hareidi United Torah Judaism – 6
Livni – 4
Otzma – 3
Kadima – 2

The poll indicates that the surprising strength of the Future and Jewish Home parties in the January elections was not a fluke but rather reflected a serious demand by the Israeli public for a change, not only in faces but also in political honesty. Bennett and Lapid are the only political party chairmen who are first-time Knesset Members, and they also campaigned with clear-cut red lines that won resounding approval. Lapid focused on his demand for the military draft to include Haredi men, and Bennett insisted that the time has come for the Palestinian Authority to start making concessions. The Knesset poll shows that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s sluggish coalition efforts have made Bennett and Lapid even more popular. The option of new elections is the least favorable to almost everyone, but the poll shows that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has more to worry about than anyone else. His coalition-building efforts have sparked a full-fledged pre-Purim Fest among politicians. Everyone is wearing masks to the point that some people, like Livni, already have lost their identities. Netanyahu made a deal with Tzipi Livni and appointed her in charge of the Justice ministry and the peace process after she did everything but spit on the Prime Minister in the elections. The deal threw the Habayit Hayehudi (Jewish Home) into a frenzy, to the point that it supposedly is preparing for new elections. Bennett wants the Prime Minister to cancel the deal, and he said Thursday night he wants to be named Finance Minister while Lapid, feeling his oats, now wants the post of Foreign Minister.