The race between a right-wing and left-wing government for the 20th Knesset has become neck-and-neck, according to the latest elections poll. 

Likud and Labor face off with 23 seats each, according to the Panels Politics poll for the Knesset Channel. 

Three parties tie for second (or third) place, with Jewish Home, the Arab parties, and even Yesh Atid garnering 12 seats each. 

Kulanu stands alone in the poll, receiving nine seats. 

The haredi parties follow, with United Torah Judaism (UTJ) and Shas competing at seven seats each – followed by another three-way tie between Meretz, Yisrael Beytenu, and Eli Yishai’s Yachad-Ha’am Itanu at 5 seats apiece. 

In this scenario, both parties compete for a coalition – and the stakes are even.

According to these figures, bonds between the three parties most likely to coalesce into a right-wing government (Likud, Jewish Home, and Ha’am Itanu) and the three parties most likely to form a left-wing government (Labor, Meretz, and Yesh Atid) each garner a combined 40 seats. A total of 61 is needed to form a coalition. 

Despite this, Israelis still prefer to keep Binyamin Netanyahu as Prime Minister. 48% of respondents preferred Netanyahu, while just 25% support Labor leader Yitzhak Herzog. 

The survey was conducted among 690 respondents and the margin of error is 3.6%.