BREAKING NEWS

Polls predict defeat for Likud if Gantz and Lapid join forces

Former IDF Chief Benny Gantz and head of Yesh Atid Yair Lapid stand to beat Likud and gain 35 seats in Knesset should they run jointly with Gantz as head, leaving Likud with only 30 seats, new Channel 2 poll said on Wednesday. 
The current alliance between Gantz and former IDF Chief Moshe Ya'alon is said to win 21 seats and Likud 30 seats, the poll found.  
Meanwhile, a poll taken by Kan, Israel's public broadcaster, found Likud standing strong with 31 seats. Gantz's Israel Resilience garnered 23 seats. Yesh Atid earned nine seats in the poll, The New Right and Labor both had 8, while the Joint List, UTJ, Meretz and Telem all had 6. Yisrael Beitenu would get five seats. Bayit Yehudi, Kualu and Shas all had four seats in the poll.
Gantz's party said they were "mot ecstatic over upturns nor worried about downturns," in a statement responding to the polls.
"The public will decide," the statement concluded.