Party of Opposition Leader Lapid surging above two right-wing contenders.
If elections were held in Israel today, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud would remain the largest party in parliament with 30 seats, a new poll published Sunday by broadcaster Channel 12 reported.
Yesh Atid, headed by Opposition Leader Yair Lapid, would come in second best but with a significant margin from the Likud, securing 17 seats.
The two right-wing parties of former Likud member Gideon Sa’ar and former acting Defense Minister Naftali Bennett, New Hope and Yamina, have fallen behind the pecking order, getting 14 and 13 mandates respectively.
The Joint List, currently with 15 Knesset (Israel Parliament) mandates, would shrink to 10 seats as it continues its downward trend in recent surveys.
Ultra-Orthodox parties Shas and United Torah Judaism were handed eight mandates each by the respondents.
Yisrael Beiteinu of chairman Avigdor Liberman would receive seven seats, followed by left-wing Labor party with five lawmakers, Meretz party with four and centrist party Blue and White with four as well — led by Defense Minister and Alternate Prime Minister Benny Gantz.
Tel Aviv Ron Huldai’s newly-formed The Israelis party would not pass the electoral threshold, like as former military chief Moshe Ya’alon’s Telem party and Knesset Member Orly Levy’s Gesher party.
Factions have four more days until February 4 to register their slates for the Knesset to the Central Elections Committee.
(i24 News).
