Responding to accusations from Likud MKs blaming them for voting to keep the nation's educational institutions open for the duration of the third lockdown to hit Israel, Blue & White party officials have counterattacked. "Every civilized country in the world has kept its school system open during periods of lockdown," reads the party's statement. "The same Netanyahu who failed to implement targeted programs in infection hotspots, and who blocked an increase in coronavirus fines due to selfish political considerations, continues to exploit the virus for his personal ends. "We won't allow a person who forced hundreds of thousands of Israeli families into poverty and kept the state budget from being passed into law so that he wouldn't be brought up on criminal charges to give us lessons in morality," they added. Meanwhile, a new poll conducted by the Midgam Institute on behalf of Channel 12 News showed a persistent trend of dropping support for both the Likud and the Blue & White parties, with Gideon Sa'ar's New Hope party holding strong as the second-largest faction in the Knesset, were elections to be held today. The poll also asked respondents if they thought the current lockdown would be the last, as some officials have promised, and found that only 33% agreed, whereas 42% predicted more lockdowns to come.