Poll: Netanyahu’s Likud rises to 31 seats at expense of coalition partners, with no impact on blocs

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ruling Likud rises from 27 seats last week to a projected 31 seats according to a poll conducted yesterday by The Times of Israel’s sister site Zman Yisrael, in the first poll conducted since the start of the current conflict with Iran.

However, the boost appears to come largely at the expense of Likud’s coalition partners, including National Security Minister’s far-right Otzma Yehudit party, which drops from eight seats last week to six, while the ultra-Orthodox parties Shas and United Torah Judaism each lose one seat, falling to nine and seven respectively.

Despite this internal shift, there doesn’t seem to be any impact on the overall balance of seats held by the two main blocs, with the coalition and opposition camps projected to remain neck and neck with 53 seats.

This does not include the four Arab parties that signed an agreement in January to work toward running together on a joint list and are projected to win 10 seats, or Benny Gantz’s Blue and White party which is projected to win four.

Meanwhile, former IDF chief Gadi Eisenkot’s Yashar Party rises to 14 seats, up from 12 last week, and 9 two weeks ago. Similarly to Likud’s gain, this boost appears to come largely at the expense of Eisenkot’s own bloc, notably former prime minister Naftali Bennett’s party, which drops to its lowest showing in weeks with 15 seats.