Bennett and Yamina maintain popularity in new survey, as right-wing bloc grows

A Channel 12 survey shows Naftali Bennett’s right-wing/religious Yamina party maintaining its newfound popularity, and Bennett closing in on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as Israelis’ preferred choice for prime minister.

It also shows the right-wing/ultra-Orthodox bloc growing at the expense of the center-left-Arab bloc.

If elections were held today, the survey finds, Netanyahu’s Likud would win 31 seats, followed by Yamina with 19; Yesh Atid with 15; the Joint (Arab) List 15; Benny Gantz’s Blue and White 11; Yisrael Beytenu 8; Shas 8; United Torah Judaism 7, and Meretz 6.

(Were MK Ofer Shelach to win his planned leadership battle against Yair Lapid, their Yesh Atid party would fall to 13 seats, with the extra two seats shared by Yisrael Beytenu and Meretz.)

The finding adds up to 65 seats for the right-wing/ultra-Orthodox bloc, 47 for the center-left-Arab bloc, and Avigdor Liberman’s Yisrael Beytenu between the blocs. However, Yamina’s Bennett has indicated he would not automatically recommend Netanyahu as prime minister next time around.

The survey found 37% of respondents believe Netanyahu is best suited to serve as prime minister, compared to 28% for Bennett. Channel 12 suggested this reflects widespread public dissatisfaction with Netanyahu’s handling of the COVID-19 crisis.

The survey, by pollster Mano Geva, polled 511 respondents and has a 4.4% margin of error.