Following the release of a new poll by the Midgam agency on Sunday, Betzalel Smotrich has become the favorite to lead a united right-wing party should the parties of the Jewish Home, National Union and Otzma form a coalition.

The survey examined different candidates including Smotrich, Rabbi Rafi Peretz, the mayor of Sderot, Alon Davidi, and the mayor of Givat Shmuel, Yossi Barudani.

Of the people asked, Smotrich received support from 33% of the voters while Peretz only received 24.3%. Rodney received 13% and Davidi received 10.7%.

It appears that Smotrich isn’t pushing away the more moderate religious Zionist voters as many had thought he would, or alternatively, all of those voters no longer support any of these parties.

Netanyahu for his part called on Smotrich to form a joint bloc with Otzma Yehudit and the Jewish Home, to ensure that all three factions pass the 3.25% electoral threshold.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)