The first poll published since Religious Zionism leader Bezalel Smotrich and Zehut party head Moshe Feiglin announced their electoral merger shows encouraging results for the newly combined list, but spells trouble for former IDF general Ofer Winter's political ambitions.
According to the survey, published Wednesday by Israeli news site Walla, the Yisrael! party led by former IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot remains the largest faction with 24 seats. The Likud follows with 22 seats. The centrist Yachad (Together) alliance led by former prime ministers Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid strengthens its position to 15 seats, while the Democrats secure 10 seats.
Yisrael Beiteinu, headed by Avigdor Liberman, would win 9 seats. The Joint Arab List and the ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism each receive 8 seats. The far-right Otzma Yehudit and the Sephardic ultra-Orthodox Shas party each gain 7 seats. The Arab Ra'am party and the Smotrich-Feiglin Religious Zionism list each win 5 seats.
