Poll: Netanyahu's Likud would win 30 seats if elections held today

When asked if they supported the surrogacy protests, 56% said yes and 33% said no. There was a majority in favor of protesters among all non-haredi (ultra-Orthodox) parties, including Bayit Yehudi.

By GIL HOFFMAN
Updated: JULY 25, 2018 20:32
The Knesset's plenum (photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)
The Knesset's plenum
(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud Party has lost five seats over the past two months, according to a Midgam poll broadcast Tuesday on Channel 2.
The poll found that if elections would be held today, the Likud would win the same 30 seats it won in the 2015 election. The party fell from the 32 seats predicted for it by a June 25 Midgam poll and 35 in a survey by the same pollsters broadcast on May 9.
Since that May 9 poll, Yesh Atid has risen from 18 seats to 19, the Zionist Union gained one seat from 14 to 15, and the Joint List and Bayit Yehudi remained at 12 and eight mandates. United Torah Judaism stayed at seven seats, Kulanu and Yisrael Beytenu each rose from six to seven, Meretz and Orli Levy’s party remained at five, and Shas went up from four seats to five.
Among the possible reasons for the Likud falling in the polls suggested by the pollsters were the continued incendiary kite attacks from the Gaza Strip and Monday’s high-profile protests against Netanyahu’s flipflop on surrogacy for male gay couples.
The poll found that 70 percent of respondents disagreed with the government’s policies on kite attacks from Gaza, up from 64% from last month’s poll. The rise happened despite the security cabinet deciding to change its policies on kite attacks in between the two polls.
When asked if they supported the surrogacy protests, 56% said yes and 33% said no. There was a majority in favor of the protesters among all non-haredi (ultra-Orthodox) parties, including Bayit Yehudi.