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Poll: Ayelet Shaked most popular choice to lead right-wing alliance

Rafi Peretz, who currently heads the Union of Right-Wing Parties, is the least popular choice.

By World Israel News Staff

Rafi Peretz, who currently heads the Union of Right-Wing Parties, is the least popular choice among four potential leaders to top a right-wing list in the September 17 Knesset election, according to a public opinion poll published by the Arutz Sheva website.

Ironically, the poll, conducted by the Dialog Institute for the news outlet, shows that the two most popular choices are Ayelet Shaked and Naftali Bennett, even though the two of them, heading the New Right party, failed to win a seat in the April parliamentary election.

Shaked is the overwhelming favorite, supported by 45 percent of those queried, compared to only 19 percent who preferred Bennett, says the polling company.

Bezalel Smotrich, who leads one of the factions within the Union of Right-Wing Parties, was backed by 12 percent to become the right-wing leader. Only 5 percent of those polled in the Arutz Sheva survey said that they were in favor of keeping Peretz in the top position.

Seven percent of respondents said that someone else should head the list, 10 percent replied that they did not know who should lead, and 2 percent answered that they were not going to vote, says Arutz Sheva.

The Union, headed by Peretz and Smotrich, earned five seats in the April election.

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Peretz currently serves as education minister and Smotrich is transportation minister. Bennett previously served as education minister and Shaked was justice minister until recently.

The poll also finds that the Likud would receive 31 of the 120 parliamentary seats and Blue and White would win 28 in the September election, and that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would again be prevented from a forming a right-wing governing majority unless MK Avigdor Liberman, head of the Israel Beytenu party, agrees to join.

His refusal to do so prevented Netanyahu’s Likud from establishing a right-wing coalition after the April election. A new ballot for September was declared in the aftermath.