Election fever is in the air and various polls are being commissioned as candidates and potential candidates seek to evaluate the political scene. A recent poll was conducted by Mesaker Institute amid right-wingers, which probes various political possibilities in the dati leumi community. One such possibility is the establishment of a new Torani party.

The poll probes combing Yachad (Eli Yishai) with Ichud Leumi, with the latter headed by Agriculture Minister Uri Ariel and Otzma Yisrael, headed by Baruch Marzel. This new party would be headed by Tzefas Chief Sephardi Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu Shlita.

Questions addressed in the poll include:

Who is the candidate most suited to head the party towards learning who may be the new potential voters? 34% stated the chance of their voting for the party would increase if headed by MK Betzalel Smotrich. He beat out Uri Ariel and Eli Yishai by more than double the votes.

When the party leader was presented to be Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu, and he brings 48.5% of the voters, by far the most popular candidate to date. 33.1% stated they would not vote for a party if Baruch Marzel appears on the list as opposed to 25.8% who said they would be pleased to see him on the lineup.

If the new party is headed by Smotrich, 16% of current Bayit Yehudi voters signal they will vote for it. 85.6% of Yachad supporters today would support the new party as well.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)