Poll shows Knesset makeup may not change much in election

No left-wing party comes close to the Likud, unless Gantz decides to run in Zionist Union.

By LAHAV HARKOV
The Knesset votes on the nation-state bill, July 19, 2018 (photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM)
The Knesset votes on the nation-state bill, July 19, 2018
(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM)
If an election was held this week, the Right-religious bloc would grow by one seat, with most party sizes remaining largely the same, a Meet the Press poll found on Saturday.
The Likud would retain its 30 seats, Bayit Yehudi would go up to 10, Kulanu would go down to eight, Shas and UTJ would remain at seven and six, respectively, and Yisrael Beytenu would get six seats, bringing the Right to 67.
The large shifts would take place in the Center-Left bloc, with Yesh Atid jumping to 18 seats, while Zionist Union would lose half of its seats, leaving it with 12. Joint List loses one, at 12 seats, and Meretz would remain the same with five.
In addition, a party led by former Yisrael Beytenu member MK Orly Levy-Abecassis, who announced she would be forming her own party, would get six seats.
The changes would be more drastic if former IDF chief of staff Benny Gantz, who is eyeing an entry into politics, would run in Zionist Union.
Then, the Likud would drop to 26 seats and Zionist Union would retain its current 24. Yesh Atid would get 14 seats, 12 for the Joint List, Bayit Yehudi would get nine and Shas and Kulanu would have seven each.
UTJ would retain its current six, Yisrael Beytenu would also get six, Orly Levy-Abecassis would have five, and Meretz would get four seats.
Over half (53%) of Israelis thought that the current political situation warrants an early election, while 32% disagreed.
Most (59%) agreed that Avigdor Liberman was right to resign from the Defense Ministry, while over a quarter (26%) disagreed.