As the election campaign gains momentum, and two days before the parties must present the Central Election Committee with their final slates ahead of the March 23 vote, the Labor party seems to be recovering in the polls as the ruling Likud party maintains a solid lead over its rivals.
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A poll by Channel 13 News projected Tuesday that were elections held at this time, Likud would win 29 seats, followed by Yesh Atid (16), New Hope (16), Yamina (10), Joint Arab List (10), Labor (8), United Torah Judaism (8), Shas (7), Yisrael Beytenu (7), Meretz (5), and Blue and White (4).
Failing to cross the four-seat electoral threshold are the smaller factions, including the Religious Zionist, Habayit Hayehudi, Economist, Israelis, Tnufa, Pensioners, and Gesher parties.
The far-right Otzma Yehudit party, which on Sunday announced it has joined forces with the radical ultra-Orthodox faction Noam, fails to enter parliament, as well.
Channel 13 News predicted 44 Knesset seats for the right-wing bloc and 66 for the Center-Left. Yamina's 10 mandates were not included in the calculation as it is believed it could join either bloc.
The poll explored potential mergers in the Right, specifically a ticket comprising the Religious Zionist Party, Habayit Hayehudi, and Otzma Yehudit.
This would see Likud win 27 mandates, , followed by Yesh Atid (14), New Hope (14), Yamina (8), Joint Arab List (8), United Torah Judaism (8), Shas (7), Yisrael Beytenu (7), Labor (7), Religious Zionist Party-Otzma Yehudit (6), Meretz (5), Blue and White (4), and Ra'am (4).
The latter is believed to be on the verge of splitting from the Joint Arab List, which will then comprise Balad, Ta'al, and Hadash.
Testing approval ratings, the survey found that 35% of the public believes Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is best suited to lead the country. Some 16% favored New Hope leader Gideon Sa'ar, 14% preferred Yesh Atid head Yair Lapid, 9% chose Yamina leader Naftali Bennett, and 7% named Blue and White leader Benny Gantz.
Asked who they would rather see as prime minister in the event the Center-Left bloc manages to unseat Netanyahu, 23% of respondents named Sa'ar, 20% preferred Bennett, 19% favored Lapid, and 27% said neither should be the PM.
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