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Israeli poll: Netanyahu weak, rightwing strong

File - In this Aug. 31, 2005 file photo Benjamin Netanyahu, right, and parliament member and Netanyahu's close ally Natan Sharansky speak to journalists during a visit to the West Bank settlement of Maaleh Adumim in the outskirts of Jerusalem. Polls this week suggest that the conservative Netanyahu, who has been prime minister for about a third of his nearly three decades in politics, is likely to be returned for a fourth term when Israel will go to the polls on March 17, 2015. But new developments, especially the emergence of an array of unpredictable centrist parties, make things difficult to predict. (AP Photo / Baz Ratner, File)
File - In this Aug. 31, 2005 file photo Benjamin Netanyahu, right, and parliament member and Netanyahu's close ally Natan Sharansky speak to journalists during a visit to the West Bank settlement of Maaleh Adumim in the outskirts of Jerusalem. Polls this week suggest that the conservative Netanyahu, who has been prime minister for about a third of his nearly three decades in politics, is likely to be returned for a fourth term when Israel will go to the polls on March 17, 2015. But new developments, especially the emergence of an array of unpredictable centrist parties, make things difficult to predict. (AP Photo / Baz Ratner, File) File - In this Aug. 31, 2005 file photo Benjamin Netanyahu, right, and parliament member and Netanyahu's close ally Natan Sharansky speak to journalists during a visit to the West Bank settlement of Maaleh Adumim in the outskirts of Jerusalem. Polls this week suggest that the conservative Netanyahu, who has been prime minister for about a third of his nearly three decades in politics, is likely to be returned for a fourth term when Israel will go to the polls on March 17, 2015. But new developments, especially the emergence of an array of unpredictable centrist parties, make things difficult to predict. (AP Photo / Baz Ratner, File)

By Associated Press 1 min read

JERUSALEM (AP) – A poll conducted ahead of Israel’s March elections indicates strong support for the country’s rightwing bloc but also doubts over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s leadership.

The poll, published Friday in the Maariv newspaper, shows that together, five rightwing and religious parties would receive 63 seats in the 120-seat parliament, enough to form a government.

The bloc – as yet unofficial – would swell to 74 seats in the Knesset if former Likud lawmaker Moshe Kahlon’s newly formed party joined in.

But the poll also shows that 60 percent of Israelis want to replace Netanyahu as prime minister, with Kahlon and former Likud minister Gideon Saar both emerging as preferable alternatives.

The poll was conducted Wednesday by telephone among 500 respondents. It has a 4.3 percent margin of error.