Netanyahu eclipses 30 seats in first poll since primaries

Labor falls to five seats ahead of its race next week.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at a pre-military academy, February 7th, 2019 (photo credit: HAIM ZACH/GPO)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at a pre-military academy, February 7th, 2019
(photo credit: HAIM ZACH/GPO)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud received a boost from Tuesday's Likud primary, according to two new polls on Thursday.
A Panels Research poll taken for Walla News found that the Likud jumped from 29 seats to 34 in one week. A survey taken for Channel 13 by pollster Camil Fuchs predicted Likud rising from 30 seats last week to 32.
Both polls found Labor falling to a nadir of five seats, as did a Smith Research poll broadcast Wednesday night on Channel 20. Labor hopes to have a similar boost from its primary on Monday.
The Channel 13 poll found that if former IDF chief of staff Benny Gantz's Israel Resilience Party and Yair Lapid's Yesh Atid ran together, the list would win 36 seats, compared to 32 for Netanyahu's Likud.
Gantz's party maintained its strength from last week in both polls. Asked who they preferred to see as prime minister between Netanyahu and Gantz, 48% said Netanyahu, 35% Gantz and 17% did not know. 
When Netanyahu was pitted against former Likud minister Gideon Sa'ar, 40% preferred Netanyahu and 39% Sa'ar. But among Likudniks, 84% preferred Netanyahu and just 11% Sa'ar.