Moderate National Unity leader Benny Gantz could form a ruling coalition if Israel holds elections now, according to a poll published Friday in the Maariv newspaper.

If elections are held today, a 69-seat coalition could be formed, consisting of National Unity parties and Yesh Atid, Yisrael Beiteinu, Hadash Taal, Raam, Labor and “Meretz”.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party is linked to National Unity with 26 MPs, continuing a recent downward trend in the polls also seen with other coalition parties.

Yesh Atid, led by Yair Lapid, wins 19 seats in the poll, seven seats behind Netanyahu and Gantz.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir’s far-right Otzma Yehudit party lost much of its popularity after backing the prime minister’s decision to block Jewish access to the Temple Mount until the end of Ramadan.

On the left, both the Labor Party and Meretz clear the electoral threshold in the Maariv poll, winning four seats respectively.

Raam Mansour Abbas’s faction gets four seats in the Maariv poll while Hadash Taal gets six, meaning a possible coalition led by Mr. Ganj could also be formed without the support of Hadash Taal, which is considered very extreme.

Source: Maariv, Jerusalem Post.