Though in some ways the poll is already obsolete because the data comes before Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman was indicted and resigned, new polls shows a shift in voter sentiment toward the religious far-right.
Likud-Beiteinu’s plurality remains virtually assured, but continues to shrink, with recent 40 seat projections falling to 35 in both polls. The seats don’t seem to be going to the center-left either, with the far-right secular list losing a number of seats to the religious far-right.
Labor remains a consensus number two, but the Jewish Home bloc is surging into a close third, with one poll showing them only a single seat behind Labor, going from a three seat also-ran to a 17 seat potential king-maker.
It also puts Jewish Home ahead of the traditional religious right party, Shas, which is polling at 10-11 seats. Between those two and the UTJ, the religious right, far-right is looking to collect significant seats over their 2009 showing, making Lieberman’s calls to cut them out of the coalition seemingly impossible.
