Likud slips in polls

While Netanyahu is in Washington, his primary rival — the Zionist Union party — is increasingly beating out Likud in the polls.

A new Knesset Channel poll published Tuesday gives the Zionist Union a three-seat lead on Likud, 24 to 21.

Yesh Atid and the Joint (Arab) List tie with 13 seats; the Jewish Home party follows with 12; Moshe Kahlon’s Kulanu party gets eight; Shas and United Torah Judaism, seven apiece; Meretz, six; Yisrael Beytenu, five; and Eli Yishai’s splinter party from Shas, Yachad, wins four, just squeezing in past the electoral threshold.

Another poll published by Army Radio finds similar results with a slightly smaller edge for Zionist Union. In it, Zionist Union gets 24 seats and Likud gets 22. Yesh Atid, the Joint Arab List, and Jewish Home party snag 12 seats apiece. Kulanu receives eight seats, the same number as in the Knesset Channel poll, and Yisrael Beitenu ties with United Torah Judaism at seven seats each. Meretz and Shas both get six seats and Yachad, in this poll too, enters the Knesset as the smallest faction, with four seats.

— Jonathan Beck