Meretz has bottomed out in public support polls, according to the latest pre-elections survey Friday - falling even past the fledgling Yachad-Ha'am Itanu party. Labor and Likud are still tied at 23 seats each, according to the TNS poll for Walla! , followed by Yesh Atid and Jewish Home at 13 seats each. The Arab parties would garner 12 seats in the 20th Knesset, according to the poll, followed by Shas, United Torah Judaism, and Kulanu at seven seats apiece. Yisrael Beytenu would gain six seats, according to these results - as the brand-new Ha'am Itanu gains five and Meretz bottoms out the poll at four, barely passing the Knesset threshold. Meanwhile, Israelis still prefer Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu for prime minister, with 45% of respondents preferring Netanyahu and just 26% preferring Labor leader Yitzhak Herzog. A full 29% are unsure or believe neither are suited for the role. The majority of Israelis still believe Kulanu leader Moshe Kahlon is best able to solve the housing crisis, meanwhile, with 28% naming him as the best candidate to fulfill financial roles over Netanyahu (13%), Yesh Atid's Yair Lapid (12%), and Herzog (11%). Respondents were also asked about Netanyahu's upcoming speech to Congress next Wednesday; 32.9% believe Netanyahu's speech will have an impact on nuclear talks with Iran, whereas 26.4% believe he will not influence the decision-making process and 19.6% believe he will hurt the process. The poll also found that support for the speech could be linked to partisan politics. 51% of voters who identify as Labor voters and 44.6% of those who identify as Yesh Atid voters expressed opposition to the speech, whereas the vast majority of Likud voters (64.6%) and many Jewish Home voters (45%) supported the move.
