The Likud party is likely to win the second election and win 32 Knesset seats, while Blue and White party is projected to secure 31 seats, a Channel 12 News poll predicted Wednesday.
April's elections saw Likud win 35 seats. A second election was set for Sept. 17 after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was unable to form a coalition.
This time around, the number of seats will be critical given Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Lieberman's announcement his preferred candidate for prime minister would be whoever heads the largest party.
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The poll of some 600 respondents comprising a representative sample of Israelis 18 and older was carried out by the Midgam research institute.
The poll gave the right-wing bloc, excluding Yisrael Beytenu, the lead, with 56 Knesset seats, compared to the Center-Left's 43. Absent a 61-seat majority, however, it would be difficult for the Right to form a coalition government.
The Joint Arab List – a faction comprising the Balad, Ra'am-Ta'al, and Hadash Arab parties – was not taken into account in the Center-Left's predicted showing in the election.
Yisrael Beytenu is predicted to garner nine Knesset seats, up from its previous four. The Joint Arab List is expected to win 12 seats, according to the poll, just shy of its current 13 mandates.
With 3% of the vote, former Prime Minister Ehud Barak's newly formed party is not expected to pass the electoral threshold, which stands at 3.25%.
Under its newly elected leader Amir Peretz, Labor is set to garner eight Knesset seats, up from the six it received under his predecessor Avi Gabbay. Peretz said he strives to see Labor win 15 seats.
With 2.1% of the vote, Moshe Feiglin's Zehut party is not expected to pass the electoral threshold either, though Feiglin is reportedly in talks with New Right party leader Naftali Bennett toward an alliance ahead of the election.
The haredi parties are set to maintain their Knesset seats, with United Torah Judaism and Shas each earning seven Knesset seats. The United Right is predicted to clinch five seats, and Meretz, under its new party head Nitzan Horowitz, is polled to garner four seats.
Asked who would be the best fit for prime minister – Netanyahu or Blue and White's Benny Gantz – 40% of respondents chose the incumbent leader, while 30% opted for the former IDF chief of staff. Twenty-one percent of those polled said neither, and 9% said they didn't know.
Asked to choose between Netanyahu and Barak, 41% said Netanyahu would be best suited for the role of prime minister. Just 16% said Barak. Thirty-four percent replied that neither was suited for the job, while 9% said they didn't know.
A Channel 13 News poll found the Likud would garner 31 Knesset seats compared to Blue and White's 29. Not taking into account Yisrael Beytenu, the right-wing bloc was set to win 57 seats compared to the Center-Left's 55.
According to Channel 13 News, Barak's as yet unnamed party was set to pass the threshold and garner six Knesset seats.
The poll further said, Yisrael Beytenu is set to earn eight Knesset seats, Labor seven, Shas seven, and the Joint Arab List, just nine Knesset seats. The New Right is set to garner five seats, according to the poll, while United Torah Judaism is predicted to win six. The United Right, Meretz and Zehut were each expected to win four seats, according to the poll.
