The mass exodus from Blue and White, which has seen nine lawmakers exit the party in the past two weeks, could spell its demise, a new poll showed Tuesday.
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According to Channel 12 News, were elections held at this time, the party, which now numbers only six MKs, would barely win five seats, leaving it teetering on the edge of the electoral threshold.
Israelis will head to the polls on March 23. This will be the fourth general election Israel has held in two years. Under Israeli law, a political faction must secure four seats, or 3.25% of the votes, to enter the Knesset.
The poll projected Likud will hold a steady lead with 27 seats, followed by New Hope (18), Yamina (14), Yesh Atid (13), the Joint Arab List (10), Sephardi ultra-Orthodox party Shas (8) Ashkenazi ultra-Orthodox party United Torah Judaism (8), the Israelis party (6), Yisrael Beytenu (6), Meretz (5), and Blue and White (5).
As previous surveys have shown, the Labor, Habayit Hayehudi, Gesher, and far-right Otzma Yehudit parties are not expected to pass the electoral threshold.
Exploring the results if Yamina leader Naftali Bennett joint forces with Habayit Hayehudi but spilt with the National Union, Channel 12 News predicted 26 mandates for Likud, followed by New Hope (17), Yamina (16), Yesh Atid (13), Joint Arab List (10), Shas (8), United Torah Judaism (8), the Israelis party (6), Yisrael Beytenu (6) Meretz (5), and Blue and White (5).
Here, too, Labor, Gesher, and Otzma Yehudit fail to get elected to parliament.
This, in fact, shows that Bennett could benefit from breaking with National Union leader Bezalel Smotrich, as Yamina would gain two seats from the move.
The National Union is not expected to pass the electoral threshold if it ran independently.
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