Poll shows Likud gaining seats, as Kahlon and Liberman slip
Labor-Hatnua still on top with 24 seats, while united Arab list would garner 13 seats
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is enjoying positive momentum less than three months before elections, according to a Maariv poll, while upstart rival Moshe Kahlon saw his support slip this week.
Netanyahu’s Likud party would win 23 seats if elections were held this week, according to the poll, up two seats from last week.
The Labor-Hatnua union still leads with 24 seats. But if the Likud is only one mandate behind, Netanyahu could well be asked to form the government again.
Fifty-five percent of respondents said they did not want Netanyahu to be reelected, while 38% said they did (7% didn’t know). This is an improvement over the past two weeks, when first 30%, then 34%, said they wanted another Netanyahu term.
Kahlon, who is heading the new Kulanu party, slid from 10 mandates to 7 this week. However, when asked which candidate would handle economic matters best, Kahlon led the field with 27%. He was well ahead of Herzog (19%) and Netanyahu (14%).
Not surprisingly, the massive graft scandal in the Yisrael Beytenu party this week has damaged Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman’s standing. Rating politicians on a scale of 1-10 — with 10 being the most corrupt — Liberman led other party leaders with a 7.1 rating, with Netanyahu in second place with a 5.5 score. Kulanu head Moshe Kahlon (3.0) and Jewish Home chief Naftali Bennett (3.6) were seen as the least corrupt.
Yisrael Beytenu, which would have captured 8 seats last week, is now down to 5.
Respondents gave Netanyahu the highest marks for keeping the country safe, with 40% saying he would be the best candidate for security matters. Bennett received 13%, Herzog and Liberman 12% each, followed by Yair Lapid — of the Yesh Atid party — and Kahlon.
If the Arab parties unite, they will win 13 seats, according to the poll. Ra’am Ta’al party leader Ahmad Tibi is the clear favorite to lead the joint list, with 44% support. Balad MK Hanin Zoabi had 0%.
The poll’s full results are (without a joint Arab party): Labor/Kadima 24 seats, Likud 23, Jewish Home 17, Yesh Atid 11, United Torah Judaism 7, Meretz 7, Kulanu 7, Ra’am-Ta’al 6, Yisrael Beytenu 5, Hadash 5, Eli Yishai’s party 4, Shas 4 — with Balad and Kadima not passing the electoral threshold.