Tel Aviv, – Benny Gantz, the leader of Israel’s new Blue and White party, has pulled ahead of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in opinion polls released four days before the parliamentary elections.
But while Gantz’s new centrist party may have the edge, the poll suggests he would be unable to pull together a centre-left bloc that could govern.
The surveys say Netanyahu’s Likud party could garner 27 seats in the 120-seat Knesset after Tuesday’s elections, while Blue and White could get 32.
Both would fall short of being able to govern outright, but the coalition arithmetic favours Netanyahu: his bloc of conservative right-wing parties could get 64.
Gantz’s bloc would land at around 56.
The surveys with similar results were published by the newspapers Yedioth Ahronoth and Maariv on Friday, the last day opinion polls can be published before the election.
Netanyahu is seeking a fifth term as prime minister.
He’s been plagued by a series of swirling corruption scandals but they have done little to dent his popularity.
Gantz, a former army chief running at the head of a centrist alliance, swiftly gained support when he launched his campaign in January.