Netanyahu makes slight gains against Gantz, Lapid in new election poll

All in all, the coalition gained two seats, adding up to 46 total, while the opposition went down to 74, still making up a sizable majority of the Knesset’s 120. 

 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends a press conference with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Cabinet Minister Benny Gantz in the Kirya military base in Tel Aviv , Israel , 28 October 2023. (photo credit: ABIR SULTAN/POOL/VIA REUTERS)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends a press conference with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Cabinet Minister Benny Gantz in the Kirya military base in Tel Aviv , Israel , 28 October 2023.
(photo credit: ABIR SULTAN/POOL/VIA REUTERS)

Benny Gantz’s National Unity party has lost two seats in a theoretical election, while Prime MInister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party has picked up two new ones, according to a new Maariv poll, conducted by ‘Leyzer Research, in partnership with Panel4All. 

Meanwhile, Yair Lapid’s Yesh Atid party continues to go down in popularity, winning a theoretical 12 seats, down from its projections last year. 

Among smaller parties there were also gains and losses: MK Avigdor Liberman’s Yisrael Beiteinu faction and far-right Otzma Yehudit each gained one seat, while the haredi (ultra-Orthodox) party United Torah Judaism lost one. 

All in all, the coalition gained two seats, adding up to 46 total, while the opposition went down to 74, still making up a sizable majority of the Knesset’s 120. 

The new poll comes against the backdrop of reports that negotiators are approaching a hostage deal, a statement by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Israel ‘will not release thousands of terrorists’ and that the war against Hamas will continue ‘until victory,’ a controversial conference to advocate for the return of Israeli settlements in Gaza, and a continuing war of attrition in the North.

 PRIME MINISTER Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and Minister without Portfolio Benny Gantz hold a news conference in Tel Aviv, in November. (credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)
PRIME MINISTER Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and Minister without Portfolio Benny Gantz hold a news conference in Tel Aviv, in November. (credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)

20% of Likud voters prefer Gantz to Netanyahu, as do almost all opposition voters

The survey also found that about half of respondents (49%) consider Benny Gantz more suitable to be prime minister than Benjamin Netanyahu (32%). This is a slight dip for Gantz, however, who received 51% of respondents the last time this question was asked, last week, while Netanyahu has held steady at 31%.

Likud voters still prefer Netanyahu, 65% to 20%, with 19% saying they don’t know, while the preference for Gantz is almost universal among opposition voters, with 96% of National Unity voters preferring the former general, as do 92% of voters for Yesh Atid.

Nearly half of Israelis (45%) support having elections immediately if a ceasefire occurs in Gaza. This is the position of 80% of Yesh Atid voters, a majority of National Unity voters (57%), and about a quarter of Likud voters.

Meanwhile, 28% of Israelis support keeping the status quo as is— this position is, unsurprisingly, particularly common among Likud voters, 56% of whom support keeping the status quo. 17% of Israelis support a unity government with the participation of Yesh Atid and Israel Beiteinu.

The poll was conducted between January 31 and February 1, with 511 respondents who constituted a representative sample of the adult population in Israel, Jewish and Arab. The margin of error is estimated at 4.3%.