Benny Gantz leads Benjamin Netanyahu for prime ministership in new poll

Amid the intensified IDF ground operation in Rafah and the northern Gaza Strip, continued sporadic firing at the Gaza border area, frozen hostage negotiations, the heated debate over the day after in the Gaza Strip, the worsening of the situation in the north, the events of Remembrance Day for the Israeli fallen soldiers and victims of terrorism, and the 76th Independence Day of the State of Israel, a survey was conducted by Lazar Research, led by Dr. Menachem Lazar, in collaboration with Panel4All on the status of the political parties in Israel.

In the survey, conducted on Wednesday and Thursday, 523 respondents participated, constituting a representative sample of the adult population in the State of Israel, aged 18 and over, both Jews and Arabs. The maximum sampling error in the survey is 4.4%.

The results of the survey, published by Maariv, show Benny Gantz leading Benjamin Netanyahu for the prime ministership with 45% support compared to 35%, with the gap narrowing slightly from 12% in the previous poll to 10% this time. Among Likud voters, Gantz reached 17%, Netanyahu reached 69%, and 14% didn’t know who to vote for. Among Yesh Atid voters, Gantz gained 83% of respondents, Netanyahu did not receive any votes among respondents, and 17% didn't know who to vote for. Among National Unity supporters, Gantz gained 85% of the votes, Netanyahu gained 5%, and 9% of respondents remained undecided.

The Likud party gained 2 seats, bringing its total to 19 in the survey, while National Unity lost two seats, down to 30 total. 

The survey also shows that Yesh Atid, Yisrael Beytenu, Religious Zionism, Meretz and Ra'am all gained one seat each. However, Shas is getting weaker in terms of seats, while the Labor party fell below the electoral threshold. New Hope and Yamina also did not pass the threshold in this survey.

In the overall summary, the coalition increased by two seats - to 49, and the opposition (without Hadash-Ta'al and Ra'am) decreased by 2, to a total of 61.

The issue of the day after 

According to the survey, about half of Israelis (48%) support Defense Minister Yoav Gallant's words regarding the "day after" in the Gaza Strip, compared to 34% who justify Netanyahu's statements, according to whom there is no point in discussing the day after before overthrowing Hamas.

The segmentation of the data shows that even on the issue of "the day after," there is a sharp disagreement between the supporters of right-wing parties, 84% of whom support Netanyahu, and 76% of the voters of the center-left parties, who think Gallant is right on the issue of the day after. Among right-wing voters, 9% believe Gallant is correct, and 84% believe Netanyahu is correct. Less than 10% have no opinion on the topic. Among center-left voters, 76% believe Gallant 76% is correct, 15% agree with Netanyahu, and 9% have no opinion. Among Arab party voters, exactly half agree with Gallant, 4% agree with Netanyahu, and 46% have no opinion on the issue.