Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces growing opposition among the Israeli public. According to a recent poll, about two-thirds of Israelis believe he should leave politics and not run in the next election. These results show a significant divide in Israeli society and a growing desire for a change in leadership, as Netanyahu continues to polarize public opinion.
The poll results reveal a notable split among voters in different political blocs. Among the parties in Netanyahu’s right-wing-religious bloc, only 37% of voters agree with the general view, while 53% want Israel’s longest-serving leader to remain in office. Overall, 27% of respondents want him to run in the upcoming elections, compared to 66% who prefer he not and 7% who are undecided.
Alternative leadership for the right
When asked who should lead a potential right-wing electoral alliance, a plurality of 30% of respondents preferred former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett. Avigdor Liberman, leader of the Yisrael Beytenu party, and Yossi Cohen, former head of Mossad, follow with 10% of the votes each. Four percent of respondents support Gideon Sa’ar, leader of the New Hope faction, while the rest of respondents are undecided or prefer neither candidate.
Investigation into the failures of October 7
An impressive 85% of respondents support the creation of a national commission of inquiry to examine the failures surrounding the events of October 7. Only 6% are opposed to it and the others do not comment.
Conscription of ultra-Orthodox students
Following the recent High Court decision, 66 percent of respondents believe that students in ultra-Orthodox yeshivas should enlist in the army, while 24 percent believe they should. The remaining 10 percent are unsure.
Survey methodology
The survey was carried out by the Midgam polling institute in collaboration with iPanel. However, the network did not specify the number of respondents or provide a margin of error.
If former Mossad chief Yossi Cohen, former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and former Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked joined a new unified right-wing party, that party would become – by far – the largest in the Knesset.
Another poll conducted by Lazar Research for the Maariv newspaper showed that a unified right-wing party would win 27 seats in the Knesset, becoming the largest party in the Knesset.
The proposed unified party would include MKs Avigdor Liberman (Yisrael Beytenu) and Gideon Sa’ar (National Unity), as well as former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, former Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked and former Mossad chief Yossi Cohen.
In such a scenario, the Likud party would win 19 seats in the Knesset, while National Unity would win 17 and Yesh Atid 13.
The Sephardic-haredi Shas is projected to win 10 seats, while Otzma Yehudit would win eight and the Ashkenazi-haredi United Torah Judaism would win seven.
Three parties – the Labor Party, the Arab Hadash-Ta’al Party and the Arab Ra’am Party (Joint Arab List) – would each win five seats, and Meretz would win four seats.
The poll also showed that if the elections were held today, National Unity would win 24 seats and Likud would win 21.
In such a scenario, Yesh Atid would be the third largest in the Knesset, with 15 seats, followed closely by Yisrael Beytenu, with 14 seats.
Shas would win 10 seats, Otzma Yehudit nine, United Torah Judaism (UTJ) seven, and Labor six. Hadash-Ta’al and Ra’am would each win five seats, and Meretz would win four seats.
In this poll, Religious Zionism, the National Right and the Arab Balad party did not pass the electoral threshold.
