A new poll released Friday shows Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s rivals gaining on him in head-to-head matchups, cutting Netanyahu’s lead to the mid-single digits.
The new poll, which was published by Ma’ariv Friday morning, was conducted by Panels Politics, using data gathered by Panel4All from 536 respondents via the internet.
In head-to-head matchups for the premiership, Netanyahu currently leads New Hope chief and former Likud minister Gideon Sa’ar by just five points, 46% to 41%.
Netanyahu’s lead over Yamina chairman Naftali Bennett is only slightly wider at six points, with 42% of voters favoring Netanyahu as PM, compared to 36% who prefer Bennett.
Yesh Atid chairman and Leader of the Opposition Yair Lapid trails Netanyahu by 22 points, 34% to 56%.
The poll also found that if new elections were held today, the right-wing bloc would retain the 58 seats it won last March, while the left-wing bloc would fall to 41 seats, down from its present 55. The remaining 21 seats would go to center-right parties which refuse to sit with Netanyahu.
The Likud would remain the largest faction with 30 seats, followed by Yesh Atid with 18, New Hope with 14, and the rightist Yamina with 12.
The Joint Arab List has stabilized at 10 seats – down from its current 15 – while Yisrael Beytenu has stabilized at seven seats.
Among the haredi factions, both Shas and United Torah Judaism are projected to win eight seats.
The far-left Meretz party would win five seats if elections were held today, while Blue and White and Labor would win four seats each.
Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai’s new HaYisraelim party would fail to cross the 3.25% electoral threshold, receiving just 2.6%, while Bezalel Smotrich’s Religious Zionist Party would receive 2.8% of the vote.
Telem would fall far short of the 3.25% threshold with 0.4%, while the Jewish Home would receive just 0.2% of the vote.
Otzma Yehudit is projected to receive 1.9% of the vote, while the New Economic Party would receive 2.2%.
