MK Avigdor Liberman’s Yisrael Beytenu party gains three mandates, to reach a 15-year-high of 14 mandates, according to the latest Maariv poll on Friday.
The party’s rise in the poll comes amid MK Benny Gantz’s withdrawal from the coalition, the escalation of tensions in the North, the hostage rescue operation in the Gaza Strip, and the conscription law debates.
The poll found that Gantz’s National Unity party received 24 mandates and the Likud 21, a severe narrowing of the gap between them. Opposition head Yair Lapid’s Yesh Atid party, little changed, wins 15 mandates.
On the Right, Shas gets 10 mandates, Otzma Yehudit nine, and United Torah Judaism (UTJ) seven.
Yair Golan’s Labor Party, Hadash-Ta’al, Ra’am, and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s Religious Zionist Party (RZP) earn five mandates each.
Gideon Sa’ar’s New Hope-United Right, Meretz, and Balad do not cross the electoral threshold.
According to the poll, the coalition holds 52 mandates and the opposition 58, without Hadash-Ta’al. This signifies that to form a coalition, Ayman Odeh’s party would have to be included.
Who is more suitable for the role of prime minister?
When asked who, Benjamin Netanyahu or Benny Gantz, is more suitable to be prime minister, the National Unity leader received 41% of the votes and Netanyahu 35%, similar to a previous poll. In comparison with Liberman, Gantz received 42% and Liberman 21%. The reason for this discrepancy, according to Maariv, is that center-left voters prefer Gantz over Liberman.
However, when pitting Liberman against Netanyahu, only 2% separated the two, with Netanyahu receiving 37% and Liberman 35%.
The poll found that 74% affirmed that Israeli hasbara or public diplomacy since October 7 had failed. These included, 57% of current coalition supporters.
Among the voters for the current coalition, 57% of respondents deemed the campaign a failure, while 32% believed it was a success. Some 11% stated they had no opinion on the matter.