Israeli poll shows Eisenkot ahead of Netanyahu in head-to-head prime minister preference
TEL AVIV, Sept 18 — Yashar party leader Gadi Eisenkot leads Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu 48% to 40% in a head-to-head question on who is preferred as prime minister, according to a poll published on Friday by Israeli daily Maariv.Former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett also led Netanyahu, 44% to 41%, while Netanyahu was ahead of…
TEL AVIV, Sept 18 — Yashar party leader Gadi Eisenkot leads Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu 48% to 40% in a head-to-head question on who is preferred as prime minister, according to a poll published on Friday by Israeli daily Maariv.
Former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett also led Netanyahu, 44% to 41%, while Netanyahu was ahead of Avigdor Lieberman, 42% to 38%. The poll was conducted by Lazar Research and Panel4All on Sept 16 and 17 among 4,089 respondents.
In seat projections for the 120-member Knesset, Netanyahu’s governing coalition would win 50 seats and the opposition bloc 54. Arab parties would take 12 and the Reservists-Economic Party four.
Eisenkot’s Yashar would be the largest single party with 23 seats, followed by Netanyahu’s Likud with 18 and Bennett’s Together party with 13. Yair Golan’s Democrats and Lieberman’s Yisrael Beytenu would each win nine.
Itamar Ben-Gvir’s Jewish Power was projected at eight seats, United Torah Judaism and Shas at seven each, and Bezalel Smotrich’s Religious Zionism at six. The Reservists-Economic Party and Ofer Winter’s Your People Israel party would win four each. The 12 Arab seats would be split between the Joint List (seven) and Mansour Abbas’s United Arab List (five).
The poll comes a few weeks before Israel’s general election on Oct 27. Netanyahu has led the government since December 2022. He faces corruption charges at home, as well as an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court over alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity related to the Gaza Strip.
