Jerusalem24 – A coalition led by Netanyahu’s Likud party would fall just one seat short of a 61-seat majority, according to a public opinion poll conducted by the Israeli Broadcasting Corporation Kan 11, 100 days before the upcoming Israeli elections.
Israeli media have been speculating about a possible return to power of Israel’s longest-serving prime minister, ever since former prime minister Naftali Bennett announced he was calling for the dissolution of the Knesset, paving the way for Israelis to head to the polls for the fifth time in under four years.
The public opinion poll published Sunday evening showed that the Joint List and United Arab List maintain their current representation, while the Yamina party (headed by Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked after Bennett stepped down) fails to even pass the electoral threshold of 3.25%, receiving only 1.6% of the vote.
Israeli affairs analyst Issmat Mansour told 24FM, Jerusalem24’s sister station, in May, that Bennett may have compromised his own party by forming a coalition with Arab parties – a move that his right-wing Yamina party was not likely to forgive.
“It was political suicide,” said Mansour.
The results also show that a run for Meretz headed by Zahava Galon may enable it to cross the electoral threshold and obtain five parliamentary seats.
Meanwhile, support for the announced alliance between Kahol Lavan and Tikva Hadasha in an electoral list headed by Defense Minister Benny Gantz is in decline.
The poll shows neither potential coalition of parties manages to secure the needed majority to form a government.
According to the poll, Netanyahu’s camp would secure 60 seats: 35 seats for Likud, 10 seats for Religious Zionism, eight seats for Shas , and seven seats for United Torah Judaism.
The opposition camp would get 54 seats: 22 seats for Yesh Atid, 11 seats for Kahol Lavan-Tikva Hadasha, six seats for Labor, five seats for Yisrael Beitenu, five seats for Meretz, and four seats for the United Arab List.
