Despite Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu being served an indictment over four corruption counts, the Likud party under his leadership would garner more seats than under his chief challenger MK Gideon Sa'ar, a new Channel 12 News poll shows.
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According to the report from Tuesday, if the deadline to form a new government elapses and the Knesset calls an early election for the third time in less than a year, Netanyahu's Likud would win 33 seats, compared to only 26 if Sa'ar was Likud chairman. Likud currently has 32 seats.
Sa'ar has called on Netanyahu to step down, saying that his indictment is preventing the formation of a new government and will lead Israel to an unnecessary election. Netanyahu has refused to step down but has agreed to a leadership race, although that is likely to take place only after a general election is called.
According to the poll, whether Netanyahu or Sa'ar is at the helm does not change much of the math in the overall Knesset, because the overall right-wing bloc would be the biggest. But in the case of Sa'ar being chairman, Likud would shed much of its strength to other parties on the Right and would get only 26 seats.
