When the Knesset called an early election several weeks ago, many Israelis hoped that this would finally break the political impasse and allow the country to swear in a new government.
But it appears that despite Israelis going to the polls for the third time in less than a year, things are likely to remain just the way they are even after the March 2 vote.
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An Israel Hayom poll, conducted by the Maagar Mochot polling institute among a representative sample of 508 Israeli adults, has the two blocs falling short of a Knesset majority, making it virtually impossible to swear in a government.
The Center-Left, along with the Arab parties, is expected to garner 59 seats out of the total 120 seats, whereas the right-wing and haredi parties are expected to win 54 seats together.
Yisrael Beytenu, which has refused to align with any bloc after the past two elections, is expected to get 7 seats (down from 8).
This means that Yisrael Beytenu leader MK Avigdor Lieberman is once again in a position of kingmaker, but he has so far insisted that his party would not back any party and will only join a unity government comprising Blue and White and Likud.
The poll shows that if the election was held this week, the Blue and White center-left alliance would remain the largest Knesset faction with 34 seats (it currently has 33) whereas Likud would come in second with 30 seats (it currently has 32).
While Blue and White can theoretically swear in a minority government with the help of the Arab parties, it has vowed to avoid that scenario, partly because it fears alienating moderate rightwing voters.
The Arab parties are also unlikely to join any formal coalition, making it virtually impossible to govern and make major policy decisions.
The poll also shows that even if parties merge their candidate lists, so as to maximize their voter potential and ensure they cross the minimum electoral threshold, such moves will barely move the needle in the overall Knesset makeup.
The poll shows that the right-wing party National Union will fail to win enough votes to cross the threshold, getting only 1% of the expected vote. The Green Party will also not make the cut, with only 0.2% of voters saying it would get their vote.
The statistical margin of error for the poll is 4.4 percentage points.
