Report: Netanyahu Working to Establish New Rightwing Party

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is reportedly working to form a new rightwing party in preparation for the coming elections, with the aim being to keep those disappointed with Likud on the right.

According to the report by Nachum Barnea of Yediot Acharonot, Netanyahu is seeking out a candidate for a center-right Kulanu style party which will give voters who define themselves as right but who don’t want Netanyahu a political home.

Meanwhile, a new poll published this morning by Maariv shows that Likud under Netanyahu is having difficulty recovering and still stands at 16 seats. Meanwhile, Ben Gvir is getting stronger and Yair Lapid is foundering.

According to the poll, if elections were held today, this is what the Knesset breakdown would look like in terms of seats: State Camp 39, Likud 16, Yesh Atid 13, Yisrael Beiteinu 10, Shas 9, Otzmah Yehudit 9, UTJ, 6 Hadash-Ta’al 5, Ra’am 5, Meretz 4, Religious Zionism 4.

Both Balad (1.8%) and Labour (1.4%) remain under the electoral threshold.

Based on political blocs, the current coalition bloc would get 44 seats, while the opposition bloc would get 76.