Polls give fledgling Democratic Camp between 8 and 12 Knesset seats

25 July 2019, 8:39 pm

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Polls conducted by the three main television channels vary in their prediction for the newly formed Democratic Camp, a merger announced this morning between Meretz and Ehud Barak’s Israel Democratic Party along with Labor Party defector Stav Shaffir.

While in one poll the party is given 12 seats, in another it was as low as eight.

Meanwhile, Labor crashes to just five seats in two of the polls, plunging the party into an even bigger crisis than it had been so far.

Meretz chairman Nitzan Horowitz, right, Israel Democratic Party chief Ehud Barak, left, and MK Stav Shaffir hold a press conference announcing their new alliance, the Democratic Camp, ahead of the September 17 elections, in Tel Aviv on July 25, 2019. (Tomer Neuberg/Flash90)

None of the polls predict Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will be able to form a coalition without his nemesis, Avigdor Liberman’s Yisrael Beytenu party.

A poll conducted by Channel 12 news gave the ruling Likud party 29 seats, Blue and White 27, and the Joint (Arab) List 11. Democratic Camp and Israel Beytenu had 10 each, the New Right had 9, United Torah Judaism (UTJ) had 8, Shas had 7, Labor had 5 and the Union of Right-Wing Parties (URWP) had 4. Netanyahu and his allies would have 57 seats without Liberman, not enough to form a coalition.

A Channel 13 news poll gave Likud 28, Blue and White just 23, and Democratic Camp 12. The Joint List got 11, New Right 10, Yisrael Beytenu 10, Labor 7, UTJ 6, Shas 5, URWP 4 and Moshe Feiglin’s Zehut 4. In this scenario, Netanyahu and his allies also take 57 seats.

The Kan public broadcaster also conducted a poll, predicting 30 seats each for Likud and Blue and White. Joint List is the next with 10, Yisrael Beytenu with 9, New Right with 9, Democratic Camp with 8, UTJ with 8, Shas with 7, Labor with 5 and URWP with 4. Netanyahu and his allies have 58 seats.