Poll shows slight improvement for Likud, but coalition still down 10 seats

A poll published tonight by Channel 12 indicates a slight improvement for the ruling Likud but shows the coalition still losing its majority.

According to the poll, if fresh elections were held today, Likud would see a one-seat increase from the previous poll conducted by the channel to 27 seats, the same as Benny Gantz’s National Unity party.

Yair Lapid’s Yesh Atid gets 18 seats, and the far-right union of Religious Zionism and Otzma Yehudit 10 seats, as does the ultra-Orthodox Shas.

United Torah Judaism polls at seven seats and Avigdor Liberman’s Yisrael Beytenu six.

The mostly Arab Hadash-Ta’al, the Islamist Ra’am and left-wing Meretz all have five seats.

Both the Arab Balad and Labor under Merav Michaeli fail to cross the election threshold, according to the poll.

The results give the current 64-seat coalition just 54 seats, while the former government gets 61, with Hadash Ta’al taking the remaining five.

The poll also asks who is most suited to being prime minister.

Gantz beats out Netanyahu by 37% to 36% in a head-to-head. Put against Lapid, Netanyahu scores 39% while Lapid gets 30%.

Israeli television polls are notoriously unreliable and respondents participated in this survey knowing that another election is not in the offing.