A new poll previewing the upcoming March elections in Israel show that the Charedi parties are expected to at least keep the same number of seats in the Knesset as they have now.
A News12 poll found that Prime Minister Netanyahu’s Likud would get 28 seats, followed by the Gideon Sa’ar’s burgeoning new party getting 19 seats, Yair Lapid’s Yesh Atid receiving 16 seats, Naftali Bennett’s Habayit Hayehudi with 13 seats, and the Arab Joint List receiving 11. Shas and UTJ, led by Aryeh Deri and Yaakov Litzman, respectively, are each expected to win 8 seats. Benny Gantz’s Blue & White party has nearly fallen off the map, and will gain just 5 seats, according to the poll. The far-left Meretz party would also win 5 seats.
{Matzav.com Israel Bureau}
I know from experience the joy of retaining a seat, and the misery of losing a seat. I once took a 2 1/2 hour ride on a bus. About a half hour into the trip, I got out of my seat to pick something up from the floor and someone took my seat. There were no more empty seats, and I stood the rest of the trip. I chastised myself for being so dumb as to get out of my seat on a packed bus. So kudos to all those who manage to retain their seats; there can be no greater joy than that.