Netanyahu's coalition unable to form government if elected today: Poll
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A new opinion poll shows Netanyahu's party's declining popularity, indicating its inability to govern should early elections occur.
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends a press conference at the Government Press office in occupied Al-Quds, Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2024. (Abir Sultan/Pool via AP)
A recent opinion poll showed that the popularity of the Likud party, led by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, continues to decline among Israelis, while the "National Unity" party, led by former war cabinet minister Benny Gantz, has maintained its position.
The poll was conducted by the Israeli newspaper Maariv and the Lazar Research Institute. Results indicate that the Likud party has dropped to 23 seats in the Knesset this week, while the National Camp remains stable at 20 seats.
The poll revealed that if elections were held today, Gantz's "National Unity" party would secure 22 seats compared to 21 for Netanyahu's Likud.
The Israeli Kan channel stated that Maariv's poll showed a different outcome if a new party led by former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett were included. In that case, Bennett's party would outperform Likud, gaining 23 seats, while Likud would receive 18 seats and the "National Unity" would have 13 seats.
The poll, conducted on October 15 and 16, involved 602 participants, representing a sample of Israeli settlers aged 18 and older.
The report noted that Netanyahu's current governing coalition is down by one seat, holding 51 seats compared to the opposition's 58 seats (excluding the 11 seats held by Arab parties). Such a result does not allow for the formation of a governing coalition without additional votes.
The site pointed out that the main loser, if Bennett leads a new party in the elections, would be Gantz's "National Unity" party, which is expected to acquire just 13 seats, along with Yisrael Beitenu, which would acquire nine seats.
Furthermore, considering the total opposition seats based on the current poll results and Bennett's potential candidacy, the total would reach 64 seats (excluding the Arab parties) against 46 seats for the current governing coalition led by Netanyahu.
Israeli military, government losing most public trust: Survey
Since the onset of the genocidal war on Gaza, and the Israeli occupation forces' inability to achieve any of their decalred war objectives, Netanyahu and the military have lost major popularity among settler society.
In late July, a survey conducted by the Jewish People Policy Institute JPPI revealed that the majority of Israelis lack confidence in the Prime Minister, his government, and the Israeli military leadership.
According to the report, trust in the military has significantly decreased, with 55% of respondents expressing low confidence in its leadership.
Meanwhile, the popularity of the Israeli government continues to decline, with the survey indicating that 73% of Israelis don't trust their government, compared to only 26% who said they do.
When asked about their trust in Netanyahu, 71% of Israelis expressed "somewhat low or very low" trust in their premier, while 27% believe their trust in him is "still high or somewhat high."
The survey also revealed that 86% of Israelis are very concerned about the security situation in the occupation entity, and 73% are worried about the economic situation.
Additionally, the survey indicated that most of the Israeli public (56%) supports protests against the government's policies.
Yedidia Stern, the head of the institute, stated that these results indicate a "deep crisis of confidence between the public and the security and political leadership," calling for a renewal of trust through early general elections.
