Poll: Right-wing loses majority as Likud falls to 31

T, Belman. This is good news. If Bibi goes, Liberman will join the right wing coalition and form a right block of 68 seats.

The right-wing bloc would fail to win a majority in the Knesset if new elections were held today, poll shows, as support for gov’t sinks.

By David Rosenberg , INN

The Israeli Right can no longer count on a majority in the Knesset if new elections were held today, a new poll released by Radio 103FM Wednesday shows.

According to the poll, which was conducted by Panels Politics Tuesday and surveyed 525 Israeli adults, the right-wing bloc has fallen from 62 seats in last week’s survey to just 60 seats – one short of the 61 necessary for an outright majority.

The left-wing – Arab bloc gained three seats since last Friday, rising from 49 seats to 52.

Yisrael Beytenu, which is not affiliated with either bloc, would win eight seats if new elections were held today, down one from last week’s Panels Politics poll.

The Likud, which peaked at 41 seats in the Panels Politics May 27th poll, has now fallen by 10 seats to just 31 mandates, five less than it won in March.

But the Likud’s senior coalition partner, Blue and White, inched upwards in this week’s poll, rising from nine seats last Friday to 10 mandates, though that is still far below the party’s current 15 seats.

Yesh Atid-Telem, which ran on a joint list with Blue and White in the three last elections, continues to gain strength, rising from 18 seats in the last week’s poll to 19 seats.

The Joint Arab List also gained a seat, rising from 15 to 16 seats.

The far-left Meretz party would win seven seats, the poll found, while its former electoral allies Labor and Gesher would both fail to cross the 3.25% electoral threshold.

The rightist Yamina party, which won six seats in March but currently holds five seats after the Jewish Home broke away to join the government, rose to 13 seats in Wednesday’s poll, one more than last week.

The Jewish Home would not cross the electoral threshold if new elections were held today, the poll found. Nor would Otzma Yehudit, another small rightist faction.

Derech Eretz, which broke off from Telem to join the government with its two seats would also fail to enter the next Knesset.

Among the haredi factions, Shas slipped by one seat this week, falling to nine seats, while United Torah Judaism fell from eight to seven seats.