Likud would win a plurality of Knesset seats if early elections were called, a new poll suggested this week.
The poll, conducted by the Geocartography Knowledge Group research institute, shows that of the 120 seats in the Israeli Knesset, the current governing party, Likud, would win 31 seats, with Yesh Atid projected to win 26 seats and the Zionist Union 13.
Currently, Likud holds 30 seats, compared with Yesh Atid's 11 and the Zionist Union's 24.
The poll appears to show the Likud regaining its strength, some two weeks after a different poll predicted that Yesh Atid and Likud would win 27 and 24 seats, respectively.
Habayit Hayehudi appears to have shed the most support compared to the previous poll. It is currently projected to win 12 seats, compared with the 20 seats it was predicted to win in a poll two weeks ago. In the current Knesset it holds 8 seats.
The Joint Arab List, a faction comprising several predominantly Arab parties, won 13 seats in the 2015 election but is expected to win only 8 seats according to the new poll.
Professor Avi Degani, the president and CEO of Geocartography Knowledge Group, said that the Likud's poor showing in the first poll stemmed from the fact that Israel's media discourse was focused on the two corruption probes currently underway against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the efforts by members of Likud to pass legislation that was perceived as trying to undermine the investigations.
According to Degani, Likud supporters temporarily parked their support with Habayit Hayehudi when the first poll was taken and that is why it was projected to win 20 seats, but those voters "came home" to the Likud after the Left began attacking Netanyahu.
The right-wing Yisrael Beytenu is projected to win 4 seats, down from the current 5 Knesset seats it holds.
The ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism is expected to win 7, up by one seat from its current Knesset representation, and the left-wing Meretz is also expected to gain one seat compared to the previous election, rising to 6.
The poll suggests that the ultra-Orthodox Shas party will barely meet the minimum electoral threshold and predicts it will only win 4 seats, down from its current 7 seats.
Overall, the poll predicts that the Right and ultra-Orthodox parties will win 66 seats, while the Left and Arab parties will receive 54.
