Polls: Bennett-Lapid-Eisenkot merger would be biggest party, but not change overall result |
A potential merger between three parties opposed to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in this year’s election would yield the biggest Knesset party, far surpassing the ruling right-wing Likud, according to polls published Thursday.
But the megaparty wouldn’t significantly boost the overall anti-Netanyahu bloc or deliver it a majority when compared to a scenario in which they ran separately, according to a new survey conducted this week for Zman Yisrael, The Times of Israel’s Hebrew-language sister site.
A poll by Channel 12 reported similar results, showing that the combined party would lead polls but that neither camp would achieve a majority.
Channel 12 news reported this week that former IDF chief Gadi Eisenkot, head of the new Yashar! party, has proposed a merger between three factions: His party, Opposition Leader Yair Lapid’s Yesh Atid, and the new party founded by former prime minister Naftali Bennett.
Right now, polls regularly show Bennett’s party regularly garnering more than 20 seats in the 120-member Knesset, close on Likud’s heels. Yesh Atid and Yashar generally score in the high single digits or low double digits.
The merger aims to present a unified slate that will become the Knesset’s biggest faction. That could give it an air of dominance and make President Isaac Herzog more likely to tap the party to form the next government.
If that scenario comes to pass, it will mark a symbolic change. Aside from a blip during the four successive elections........