The right-wing Likud party would lose seats in a fresh round of elections if it were headed by MK Gideon Sa’ar rather than Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a new poll says.
Sa’ar confirmed yesterday he was prepared to run against Netanyahu for the leadership of Likud after the premier floated calling primaries days earlier before backtracking some 24 hours later.
According to Walla news, Likud would get 26 seats with Sa’ar at the helm if elections were held today, six less than it received in elections last month, while the rival Blue and White party would maintain its strength at 33 seats.
The lost seats would instead go to parties representing the religious right, with the poll having the Yamina alliance jumping to 12 seats from seven. Shas and United Torah Judaism, a pair of ultra-Orthodox parties, would each gain a seat, moving up to 10 and eight respectively.
Besides Yisrael Beytenu, which would fall from eight to seven seats, all the other parties would match their current seat tally.
Though the survey has Likud falling well behind Blue and White if Sa’ar takes over for Netanyahu, new leadership for the right-wing party would only have a negligible impact on the size of the parliamentary blocs if fresh elections are held.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, right, and then-interior minister Gideon Sa’ar, left, at the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem on December 25, 2012. (Miriam Alster/Flash90)
Help us report truthfully on social media
As a multimedia journalist, my job is to take the quality, fact-based journalism produced by The Times of Israel newsroom and make it accessible across every platform — from Instagram posts to podcasts to short-form videos.
This is how many, especially young people, consume news these days. But misinformation is rampant on social media. Our team at ToI produces accurate, responsible short-form reporting on Israel and the Jewish world.
If you believe in the importance of factual social media journalism, please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. Your financial support is essential to sustain responsible multimedia reporting.
We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.
That’s why we started the Times of Israel - to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.
So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven’t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.
For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you, David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel
From the Liveblog of
Sunday, October 6, 2019
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on Google
