Polls show Likud, current coalition crashing, Gantz soaring as public seeks consensus

A pair of TV opinion polls show that, as of the beginning of this week with the major anti-government protests — before the judicial overhaul was delayed — the current coalition of right-wing, far-right and ultra-Orthodox parties is crashing in support, Benny Gantz’s centrist National Unity gaining around a whopping 10 Knesset seats from its current 12, largely at the expense of the ruling Likud.

The surveys by Channel 12 news and the Kan public broadcaster suggest a greater desire for consensus, boosting the pragmatic Gantz and signaling a will among the public for softened rhetoric and broader agreement, while bringing the current coalition parties down from their current combined count of 64 down to 53 or 54.

Following are the results of the Channel 12 poll, conducted by the Midgam institute:

Likud 25
National Unity 23
Yesh Atid 22
Religious Zionism-Otzma Yehudit 12
Shas 10
United Torah Judaism 7
Yisrael Beytenu 6
Meretz 5
Hadash-Ta’al 5
Ra’am 5
Labor 0 — 3.1% of votes, below the 3.25% threshold
Balad 0 (2.1%)

The current coalition parties (Likud, Religious Zionism, Otzma Yehudit, Shas and United Torah Judaism) get 54, far from the 61 majority needed for a coalition.

The opposition bloc that forms what was the previous coalition (National Unity, Yesh Atid, Yisrael Beytenu, Meretz, Ra’am, Labor) gets 61 seats, while the non-aligned Hadash-Ta’al gets the remaining 5.

The results of the Kan poll, conducted by Kantar Insights:

Likud 25
Yesh Atid 22
National Unity 21
Religious Zionism-Otzma Yehudit 11
Shas 10
United Torah Judaism 7
Ra’am 6
Yisrael Beytenu 5
Hadash-Ta’al 5
Meretz 4
Labor 4
Balad 0

The current coalition parties get 53, while the previous coalition bloc gets 62 seats and Hadash-Ta’al gets 5.