War on Gaza: Netanyahu and Likud lead in new Israeli election poll
More Israelis favour Benjamin Netanyahu as prime minister than any other leader, and his Likud party is poised to win the most seats in a new election, according to a poll published on Friday.
The poll, conducted by Lazar Research and cited by the Israeli newspaper Maariv, said 42 percent of respondents find Netanyahu best suited for prime minister, whereas 40 percent would prefer his centre-right rival, Benny Gantz.
Likud would win 22 seats in Israel's parliament, the Knesset, should elections be held today, according to the poll, compared to 20 seats for Gantz’s National Unity party. Likud got 21 seats in Maariv’s June poll, with National Unity getting 24.
The parties that currently make up Netanyahu's ruling coalition would, however, get 53 seats overall, compared to the opposition camp’s 57, with 10 seats going to parties representing Palestinian citizens of Israel.
These results show changing fortunes for the prime minister, who has performed poorly in polls following the 7 October Hamas-led attack and war on Gaza.
New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch
Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters
Last month, a poll conducted by Israel’s Channel 12 showed that 72 percent of Israel thought Netanyahu should resign over the failures related to the 7 October attack on Israel, which killed over 1,100 Israelis.
Despite the criticism, Netanyahu had been narrowing the gap between him and Gantz over the last few polls.
The latest results come as Israelis are expecting attacks from Hezbollah and Iran in retaliation for the assassination of a top Hezbollah commander in Beirut and Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran last week.
Both killings have ratcheted up tensions and likely hindered efforts to reach a ceasefire deal in Gaza that would free Israeli captives taken on 7 October.
According to the poll in Maariv, 48 percent of Israelis support reaching a captive release deal in Gaza over launching pre-emptive strikes against Hezbollah and Iran, which could draw the region into a wider war. However, 42 percent would prefer the latter option.
When dividing respondents through political lines, 70 percent of respondents who support Netanyahu’s coalition said they would prefer a pre-emptive strike, while 72 percent of opposition voters chose the deal.
Israel’s war on Gaza has killed more than 39,000 Palestinians in Gaza and destroyed much of the enclave’s civilian infrastructure.
A Pew Research Center survey found in May that only 19 percent of Israelis felt that the army’s actions in Gaza had gone too far, with 39 percent believing it has been “about right” and 34 percent saying it has not gone far enough.
Middle East Eye delivers independent and unrivalled coverage and analysis of the Middle East, North Africa and beyond. To learn more about republishing this content and the associated fees, please fill out this form. More about MEE can be found here.
