Parties in the far-right, racist and ultra-Orthodox coalition headed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would garner between 50-54 Knesset seats if elections were held today, losing its current majority of 64 of the 120 Knesset seats, according to polls published Thursday night by Israel’s two main news channels.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu votes on the judicial panel in the Knesset, June 14. 2023 (Photo: Knesset)

According to the Channel 12 poll, Likud would see a one-seat increase to 27 seats from the previous poll, the same as Benny Gantz’s National Unity party. However, a Channel 13 poll Thursday night showed Likud with 24 seats, and National Unity with 28 seats, as the largest party. Zionist-liberal National Unity, which won 12 Knesset seats in last November’s election, has slowly gained on the 32-seat Likud in recent months.

Thursday’s polls came a day after drama in the Knesset where Netanyahu lose control of his coalition with several members apparently defecting to vote with the opposition in a secret ballot, after an opposition lawmaker was elected to a key judicial panel, sparking a hunt for who broke ranks to support the move.

On last Wednesday opposition won a crucial vote when its lawmaker was elected as one of the two Knesset representatives on the committee that appoints judges. The results of the vote dealt an embarrassing defeat to Netanyahu’s coalition and the supporters of the far-right government’s plan to weaken the Supreme Court and other state institutions.

The results of the Channel 12 survey give the current 64-seat coalition just 54 seats, while the former government gets 61, with Hadash Ta’al taking the remaining five. The drop is more dramatic in the Channel 13 survey, which has the current coalition at 50 seats, the former government at 61, and six to Hadash-Ta’al.