Despite the public controversy over the so-called "supermarkets law" and the wiretapping scandal involving Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's son, Yair, the Likud has managed to retain its status as the strongest political party, a recent survey has found.
A poll that aired Saturday evening on Channel 13's "Meet the Press" showed that if elections were to be held today, the Likud party would still receive the most mandates, winning 25 Knesset seats.
Nipping at its heels is Yesh Atid with 24 mandates, followed by the Zionist Union (16), the Joint Arab List (12), Habayit Hayehudi (11), United Torah Judaism, Kulanu and Israel Beytenu (7 each), Shas (6) and Meretz (5).
The poll also examined a hypothetical situation whereby Yesh Atid and Kulanu run on a joint ticket.
In such a scenario, the two parties together would receive 29 mandates and dethrone Likud, which would become the second strongest party with 25 mandates. Zionist Union would receive 17, the Joint Arab List and Habayit Hayehudi would secure 12 Knesset seats each, United Torah Judaism and Israel Beytenu would each win 7 seats, while Shas and Meretz would not be affected.
The poll was conducted among a representative sample of 504 voters.
Kulanu Chairman Moshe Kahlon, who also appeared on "Meet the Press," said he had no intention of toppling the government, even if the police recommend indicting Netanyahu.
"There's no point in getting into speculations about the police's recommendations," Kahlon said. "The law is clear, and it states that the prime minister must resign after the attorney general decides to issue an indictment against him."
Asked about the stability of the current coalition, Kahlon said, "I'm a construction contractor, not a demolition contractor – the elections will be held according to schedule in November 2019."
Meanwhile, some 1,500 people demonstrated "against government corruption" on Rothschild Boulevard in Tel Aviv on Saturday night. At the same time, nearly 100 right-wing protesters held a counter-rally.
