One week out, election poll predicts continued gridlock 

Polls forecast the outgoing coalition will win 56 seats, Netanyahu’s bloc could get 60, neither will have a majority.  

A week before Israelis head out to cast their votes, a new TV poll forecasts a record number of Knesset seats for incumbent Prime Minister Yair Lapid’s Yesh Atid party. 

But the 27 seats Yesh Atid is predicted to win come mainly at the expense of allies Labor and Meretz and will only deliver Lapid’s bloc of centrist parties 56 seats, not enough to govern in the 120-seat Knesset. 

Netanyahu’s bloc is projected to win 60 seats, similar to previous polls over the past week, and one short of a majority. 

The survey aired by Channel 13 on Tuesday gave Likud a projected 31 seats as the largest party. The far Right Religious Zionism party, which is part of Netanyahu’s Right-religious bloc, was the third-largest party in the poll with 14 seats.  

At the other end of the spectrum, the dovish Meretz party, whichis part of a potential Left-Centre Coalition dropped to four seats, not far above the electoral threshold of 3.25%, and this week launched a campaign known as “Gevalt” (Alarm!)

The far Right continues to be a major issue with Lapid warning this week that a Netanyahu-Smotrich-Ben Gvir government would be the "end of democracy".

Smotrich, leader of the far Right Religious Zionism party, this week presented his party’s plan to overhaul Israel’s judicial system. The plan includes allowing a bare majority in the Knesset to override Supreme Court rulings. The rulings in question are those where the court ruled Knesset legislation violated Israel’s Basic Laws.  

US lawmakers have also expressed concerns about legitimising Ben-Gvir, prompting Netanyahu, speaking on a Haredi station, to respond that he won’t bow his head to the US. 

Arab turnout is another key issue, with analysis in the run-up suggesting the community’s voter turnout could be as low as 40%.