Since the last Knesset elections during which Ichud Leumi ran together with Bayit Yehudi, there have been calls directed at Bayit Yehudi leader Naftali Bennett to break from Ichud Leumi.

A major survey was conducted by Midgam Institute directed by Dr. Mina Tzemach towards evaluating the position of the dati leumi community and it reveals the majority of potential voters prefer a union between the two ahead of the next elections.

500 persons who categorize themselves as being dati leumi took part in the survey, persons who said in the last elections that voted Bayit Yehudi or Yachad. Most believe that remaining with Ichud Leumi is a good thing that will bring additional votes to Bayit Yehudi.

59.5% of Bayit Yehudi voters favor Ichud Leumi officially coming on board, joining Bayit Yehudi while only 27% feel Ichud Leumi is too right-wing, preferring to see them run independently in the next elections.

Among voters of Eli Yishai’s ‘Yachad’ party, 47.6% of respondents support a union between Bayit Yehudi and Ichud Leumi, while 32.9% support the parties running independent of one another because they feel one cannot trust Bayit Yehudi when it comes to matters of ideology.

55% of the overall respondents support a deal between the two parties to run together in the next elections while 24.1% prefer running independent of one another because Ichud Leumi is too right-wing.

On the other hand, 10.4% support the parties running independently because they do not trust Bayit Yehudi when it comes to matters of ideology.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)