Week Before Election, Polls Give Zionist Union the Lead

One week before the election, two separate polls place the Zionist Union in the lead over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party.

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A Channel 2 poll gave the Zionist Union 25 seats, Likud 21, and 13 for both Naftali Bennett's Habayit Hayehudi and the Joint List of Arab parties. Yair Lapid’s Yesh Atid came in at 12 seats, Moshe Kahlon’s Kulanu at eight, Shas at seven, Avigdor Lieberman's Yisrael Beiteinu at six, United Torah Judaism at six, Meretz with five and Eli Yishai's Yahad with four.

49 percent of respondents said they prefer Netanyahu as the next prime minister, compared with 36 percent who would rather see Herzog as premier.

Earlier on Tuesday, a Knesset Channel poll gave the Zionist Union the lead with 24 seats, 3 more than Likud. Yesh Atid came in third at 14 seats — the party's best showing this election season.

The survey projected 13 seats for the Joint List and 12 for Habayit Hayehudi. Kulanu edged up to nine seats from eight, while Meretz has dropped to five seats from six.

Support for the ultra-Orthodox parties is stable. Shas is unchanged at seven seats and United Torah Judaism is down to six seats from seven.

In the poll, Yisrael Beiteinu comes in at five seats and Yahad at four. Parties must receive at least 3.25 percent of the vote — four seats — to make it into the Knesset.

The Knesset Channel polled more than 1,000 people, many more than usual for such surveys.