Israeli public wants elections, KAN poll shows

A majority of the Israeli public believes elections in Israel should be held in advance, while half the public thinks they should be held now, according to a poll published on Thursday by KAN News. 

The poll also revealed that a near majority of the public supports a ground operation against Hezbollah in the North. These results were especially prevalent among the coalition's voters, KAN stated. Opposition voters, however, remained divided between those who support such a move and those who oppose it.  

Likud gains a mandate, National Unity remains stable

When looking at the distribution of the mandates, the Likud received 22 mandates, compared with the previous poll in which it gained 21, the poll showed. 

Benny Gantz’s National Unity party remained stable with 29 mandates, while Yesh Atid garnered an additional mandate since the last poll, bringing the party to 16. 

The KAN poll showed other parties dropping, such as Yisrael Beitenu, which earned ten mandates instead of 11. In addition, Bezalel Smotrich’s Religious Zionist Party dropped to four mandates instead of its previous five.

According to the KAN poll, some parties remained stable, such as Itmar Ben-Gvir’s Otzma Yehudit, which yielded nine mandates, Hadash-Ta'al with five, and Meretz and Ra’am receiving four mandates.