One day after former Communications Minister Moshe Kahlon's April 8 announcement that he plans to return to politics, a new poll offered Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a sweet moment of pleasure amid all the crises he faces. The negotiations with the Palestinians have fallen apart, another employee complained about the prime minister’s wife and there is talk of new elections among members of both the coalition and the opposition. While none of these has caused the prime minister serious harm, they have been a nuisance.
According to polls published by Israeli TV Channel 10 and Israeli daily Globes, a new party headed by the former Likud minister would win 10 to 13 seats, taking most of its votes from the center-left parties, and particularly from Finance Minister Yair Lapid’s Yesh Atid. While that’s not bad for someone who hasn’t even created his party yet, it is a disappointing result for the most popular politician in the Likud. Based on the results of the poll, it looks like Kahlon will be unable to attract voters from the very party he left. A Channel 10 poll predicts for the Likud-Yisrael Beitenu party alliance two more mandates than it currently holds.
