Olmert. 41 seats
Photo: AP
Peretz. 20 seats
Photo: Yaron Brenner
Netanyahu. 15 seats
Photo: AP
Poll: Kadima down, Right gains strength
Yedioth Ahronoth poll shows Kadima down to 41 Knesset seats, Likud and Labor stable. Meanwhile, right-wing parties get boost, merger between National Religious Party, National Union nets eight Knesset seats
The latest pre-elections poll shows frontrunner Kadima going down slightly, with right-wing parties gaining strength ahead of the March 28 elections, Israel's leading newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported Thursday morning.
The joint shows Kadima winning 41 Knesset seats had elections been held today, a two-seat decline compared to the previous poll. Meanwhile, Labor and Likud continue to fall behind Kadima with 20 and 15 mandates respectively.
The survey also showed the recent rightist merger between the National Religious Party and the National Union was a smart move. In the previous survey, the National Union won four Knesset seats while the NRP only received two. However, the united party list won eight seats in the latest poll.
The religious Shas party got the nod for 10 seats, a one-mandate drop from the last survey, while right-wing party Israel Our Home won seven seats, also dropping by one. Arab parties, meanwhile, went up by one seat for a total of nine.
United Torah Judaism and the leftist Meretz party both got five seats in the survey.
The poll is based on responses provided by 830 people who constitute a representative sample of Israel's adult population. The margin of error in the survey is 4.4 percent.
The full survey results will be published Friday by Yedioth Ahronoth.
