Gantz’s Blue and White party slumps to single digits in TV poll

In a separate television poll, Defense Minister Benny Gantz’s Blue and White party sinks to single digits, while Prime Minister Netanyahu’s Likud would secure a majority together with right-wing religious parties if an election were held at this time.

According to the Channel 13 survey, Likud would pick up 38 seats if elections were held today, followed by Opposition Leader Yair Lapid’s Yesh Atid party and the predominantly Arab Joint List, with 16 seats a piece.

The national-religious Yamina party, which backed Netanyahu in the elections but was left out of the new government, shoots up to 11 seats in the poll, up from the five seats it now has.

Blue and White would get nine seats, its worst showing since Gantz agreed to join a Netanyahu-led government after repeatedly ruling out sitting in a coalition headed by the premier, due to his indictment on graft charges.

MK Avigdor Liberman’s right-wing secularist Yisrael Beytenu party received eight seats in the poll, as did the ultra-Orthodox Shas.

United Torah Judaism, another Haredi party, and the left-wing Meretz were each forecast to receive seven seats.

Between them, Likud, Yamina, Shas and UTJ would have 64 seats, enough for a governing majority in the 120-seat Knesset.