Were elections held at this time, former Likud MK Gideon Sa'ar's party could become the third-largest faction in the Knesset, a poll by local radio station 103 FM found Wednesday.
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Sa'ar, a longtime Likud member, announced his resignation from the Knesset on Tuesday alongside his departure from the Likud in favor of forming a new party.
He said he plans to challenge Benjamin Netanyahu for the position of prime minister.
Earlier Wednesday, the Knesset House Committee set March 16 as the potential date for the next general election, advancing legislation to dissolve parliament.
If the bill passes, Israelis will head to the polls for the fourth time in two years.
The radio station's poll gave Sa'ar's party, which has yet to be named, 17 mandates.
Likud was projected to win 25 seats, followed by Yamina (19), Yesh Atid (14), the Joint Arab List (11), Shas (9), Yisrael Beytenu (7), United Torah Judaism (7), Blue and White (6) and Meretz (5).
As in most recent polls, the Labor, Gesher, Habayit Hayehudi, Derech Eretz, and the far-Right Otzma Yehudit parties are not expected to past the prerequisite four-Knesset-seat electoral threshold.
Derech Eretz MKs MKs Yoaz Hendel And Zvi Hauser had said they plan to join Sa'ar, in a move seen as an attempt to better their odds of getting re-elected.
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