All polls published Tuesday evening after the announcement of early elections to be held April 9 showed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his Likud party far ahead of all other leaders and parties.
A poll conducted by Hadashot News found that if former IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. (ret.) Benny Gantz was to form his own party and run as its head, it would win 16 seats. Gantz has not announced any intention of running for the Knesset.
The same poll found that Likud would win 29 seats, Yesh Atid, led by Yair Lapid, would win 11 – down from the 18 or so consistently predicted for the party in polls this year – and Labor, led by Avi Gabbay, would win 11 seats.
If Gantz was to join the Zionist Union, the party would win 25 seats, the poll found.
The poll also found that MK Orly Levy-Abekasis, who on Tuesday formally announced that she was forming a new party named Gesher ("Bridge"), would win only four mandates, which may not be enough to cross the electoral threshold required to become part of the Knesset.
Meanwhile, Labor party leader and co-leader of the Zionist Union Avi Gabbay is refusing to step down, despite growing discontent from the ranks of the Zionist Union. Gabbay has said he will not agree to join any center-left bloc unless he is guaranteed the leadership of the unity party.
Gabbay's Zionist Union co-head, Tzipi Livni, hinted on Tuesday that Gabbay may have to forgo his spot at the head of the list.
"Anyone who claims that he wants what is best for the country should be a partner in our unity agreements. Each one of us should put his ego aside for the sake of our common goal, which is a change of government," Livni said, without mentioning Gabbay by name.
Her remarks garnered a swift response from associates of Gabbay. Hadashot News reported that sources close to Gabbay had said, "If she [Livni] is going to behave like this, she can start looking for a new party right now."
Associates of Livni told Israel Hayom on Wednesday that she has no intention of dismantling the Zionist Union, which was formed when Labor and Livni's Hatnuah party joined forces ahead of the 2015 election. Livni's colleagues said she intends to remain in the Zionist Union and play an active role in the party.
A Channel 10 News poll found that a new party under Gantz would win 15 mandates, while Likud would win 27 and Yesh Atid would win 12. If Gantz's party and Yesh Atid ran jointly, the joint party would win 26 seats. The poll also found that the Zionist Union would win only nine seats, in any scenario.
A poll by public broadcaster Kan projected 30 seats for Likud, 13 for Yesh Atid, 13 for the Joint Arab List, 12 for Habayit Hayehudi, 10 for the Zionist Union, and only 10 seats for a new party led by Gantz. The far-left Meretz and the ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism parties would win seven seats each, while Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon's Kulanu Party would win six seats. Yisrael Beytenu under Avigdor Lieberman, the Sephardi haredi party Shas and Abekasis' Gesher party would each scoop up four seats.
A poll published in Maariv newspaper showed the Likud winning 30 seats, with a party under Gantz coming in a distant second with 13 seats, and Yesh Atid winning 12 seats.
