The Likud has lost public support following the collapse of negotiations to
replace the “Tal Law,” but Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu need not worry,
since, according to two polls published Friday, he will remain in his office
after the next election.
A poll in Ma’ariv showed the Likud keeping its
current 27 seats in the Knesset, while Yediot Aharonot had the prime minister’s
party dropping to 25, after its poll in May gave the Likud 30
seats.
Kadima would drop to seven seats, onefourth of its current size,
if elections were held today, according to both polls.
Labor leader
Shelly Yechimovich was Netanyahu’s most formidable challenger in both polls,
though Yediot proves her to be a bigger threat to the prime minister, with 21
Knesset seats, than Ma’ariv, which gave Labor 17. The party currently has seven
MKs, but was voted in with 13 in 2009.
The polls showed varying results
for other parties. Both had Yisrael Beytenu remaining the third-largest party,
followed by Yair Lapid’s Yesh Atid and Shas. However, Yediot gave them 13, 13
and 10 seats, respectively, while Ma’ariv had Yisrael Beytenu grow to 16 seats
from its current 15, Lapid with 11 seats, and Shas gaining two seats to reach
11.
National-religious parties Habayit Hayehudi and National Union, which
currently have a combined seven seats and plan to run together in the next
election, would grow to 10 seats, according to Yediot, but Ma’ariv showed
drastically different results, with the parties shrinking to six spots in the
Knesset.
Defense Minister Ehud Barak’s Independence party would not reach
the election threshold of 2 percent, or three seats, according to both polls.