Poll: Netanyahu would beat Gantz in direct PM election

Latest poll indicates little change in Israeli voting preferences.

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Reuven Rivlin, Benny Gantz and Benjamin Netanyahu meet on September 23, 2019. (photo credit: HAIM ZACH/GPO)
Reuven Rivlin, Benny Gantz and Benjamin Netanyahu meet on September 23, 2019.
(photo credit: HAIM ZACH/GPO)
According to a Channel 13 poll published Sunday, if elections were held today, Blue and White would receive 35 seats compared to 34 for the Likud. Each party would therefore receive two more seats than it did in the September election.
The poll indicates that most people (41%) would blame Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if there is a third round of elections, while some 31% will blame Yisrael Beytenu chairman Avigdor Liberman.
Only 7% of respondents believe that Blue and White chairman Benny Gantz is to blame for the current impasse; 15% indicated that they do not know who is to blame, and 6% said none of them are to blame.
Regarding other parties: The Joint List would receive 13 seats (the same as it has now); Yisrael Beytenu nine (up from eight); Shas and United Torah Judaism six each (down from nine and seven respectively); Labor-Gesher five (down from six); New Right four (down from the seven it has now with Bayit Yehudi in Yamina); the Democratic Union four (down from five); and the Union of Right-Wing Parties four (passing the electoral threshhold, which it didn't do in September).
The URP would therefore be the biggest gainer, joining the Knesset with four seats (although it includes Bayit Yehudi, which was part of Yamina in the last election). Shas would be the biggest loser, losing three seats: a third of its current strength.
There would be little movement in the blocs, with the Center-Left-Arab bloc getting 57 mandates, and the Right-religious bloc receiving 54 mandates. The balance of power still remains in the hands of Yisrael Beytenu with its nine votes.
The poll also shows that if direct elections are held for prime minister, Netanyahu would win with about 40% of the vote, and Gantz would be a close second, receiving about 37% of the vote.
Natan Rothstein contributed to this report.