For the first time since the last Knesset election, in March 2015, a poll suggest that if elections were held today, Yair Lapid's Yesh Atid party would come out ahead of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party, winning 24 mandates compared to 22 for Likud. The poll was conducted by Channel 2 this week in response to the ongoing controversy over railway work on Shabbat. The results were reported on the main news broadcast on Tuesday evening. According to the poll, Likud, which currently holds 30 seats in the 120-seat Knesset, would lose eight. But Yesh Atid is not the only party that would gain traction, according to the poll: Habayit Hayehudi would win 14 seats. The Joint Arab List would remain steady with 13 mandates. The poll results show that the Zionist Union, under MKs Isaac Herzog and Tzipi Livni, would lose even more mandates than the Likud, dropping 11 to tie with the Joint Arab List's 13 seats. The poll projected 10 seats for Yisrael Beytenu under Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman, seven for United Torah Judaism, six each for Interior Minister Aryeh Deri's Shas party and Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon's Kulanu party, and five for Meretz. The Channel 2 report on the results of its poll said that it appeared that Zionist Union voters were going over to Lapid, while the Likud had lost a quarter of its voters to Habayit Hayehudi leader Naftali Bennett and Lieberman. The report also noted that a party led by former Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon would win only seven mandates. The Likud issued a statement in response to the poll. "There is no reason to be upset at the poll," it said. "We all remember that 18 mandates were projected for Likud in the last election, and we saw what the result was. It's clear that the poll is the direct result of the railway Shabbat crisis, and that's behind us now that the High Court ruling on the matter has been handed down." Addressing the haredi parties' membership in the governing coalition, the statement said: "We must remember that the left-wing governments over the years established coalitions with the haredim: the first government of [Yitzhak] Rabin; the second Rabin government, which passed the Oslo Accords with the support of the haredi parties; the government of [Ehud] Barak; and the government under [Ehud] Olmert. None of these governments made changes regarding religion and state, either. "Lapid, who is 'finding religion,' is also signaling to the haredim that he won't institute any changes on these issues. Likud voters will return [to the party] when they realize that Lapid is a left-winger who heads a left-wing party and will lead concessions and withdrawals that will pose a risk to Israel's security. Don't be confused: The harsh criticism of Likud has one goal, to put a left-wing government in place." Coalition Chairman MK David Bitan (Likud) added that "in many polls, including some conducted this past week, Likud is leading by a large margin. We're not worried about this specific poll. The pendulum will swing back in our favor because of our work on security, social issues, infrastructure, and more. The railway construction issue will also be solved by Likud." Both Yesh Atid and the Zionist Union declined to comment on the poll. Meanwhile, a new billboard campaign is urging former Prime Minister and IDF chief Ehud Barak to re-enter politics. The main text of the billboards reads, "Barak, you have to run!" A smaller line beneath reads: "Netanyahu is destroying the country."
Nothing on the signs indicate who is behind the campaign, but some in politics believe that Barak or his supporters are using the campaign to test the waters ahead of a possible run for prime minister.
