Against the backdrop of the escalation in the war against Hamas in Gaza, the ongoing issue of the Hamas hostages, and the prolonged northern border conflict with Hezbollah, the Likud Party would drop to an unprecedented low of only 16 seats if elections were held today, according to a survey by Maariv, conducted by Lahav Research, led by Dr. Menachem Lazar, in collaboration with Panel4All.
The mandate swing, which was more decisive this week compared to previous weeks, also reflected the weakening of the governing coalition by two mandates and a 5% decrease in the approval ratings for Benjamin Netanyahu as suitable for the role of prime minister – 29%, compared to 51% for Benny Gantz, who improved by 3%. In the battle of Likud voters in the last elections, Netanyahu received 54%, compared to Gantz's 28%, and an additional 18% answered "don't know."
In the battle of voters from the National Unity Party, Gantz received 90%, Netanyahu 2%, and 8% don't know. In the battle of voters from the Yesh Atid camp, Gantz received 83%, Netanyahu 5%, and 12% don't know. In response to an additional question: "On the upcoming Sunday, it will be 100 days since October 7. When you look at the overall picture, is Israel winning or losing the war?" – the answers were: winning big 9%, still not winning but on the way 53%, losing somewhat 22%, losing big 8%, don't know 8%.
Coalition party voters were more optimistic: 14% answered winning big, 58% still not winning but on the way, 20% losing somewhat, 4% losing big, and 4% don't know. In contrast, opposition voters were less optimistic, with only 2% answering winning big, 60% still not winning but on the way, 26% losing somewhat, 6% losing big, and 6% don't know. The survey was conducted on January 10-11, with 515 respondents representing the adult population in Israel aged 18 and above. Both Jewish and Arab participants answered. The margin of error is 4.3%. According to the survey, the Blue and White Party is the largest with 39 mandates. Immediately afterward, the Likud party, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, would receive only 16 mandates. The Yesh Atid party, led by opposition leader Yair Lapid, has 13 mandates, and Yisrael Beiteinu, led by Knesset member Avigdor Lieberman, receives 10 mandates.
Other parties
Furthermore, the Shas Party received nine mandates. Otzma Yehudit received eight mandates. United Torah Judaism received seven mandates. Hadash-Ta'al received five mandates as did Ra'am. The Religious Zionist Party received only four mandates, as did Meretz. The Labor and Blue and White parties did not pass the electoral threshold.