A Direct Polls survey released on Monday by Israel’s Channel 14 shows that the Likud Party gained a slight tailwind following National Unity Party leader Benny Gantz’s announcement that he was quitting the emergency unity government.
If elections were held today, the Likud Party with Benjamin Netanyahu at its head would win a months-long high of 59 Knesset seats, up one from last week’s Direct Polls survey.
Meanwhile, the center-left bloc weakened, falling to 51 mandates from 53 in the last poll.
The survey asked which leader was best suited to serve as prime minister: Netanyahu or Gantz. Forty-seven percent of the respondents picked Netanyahu compared to 31% for Gantz. Twenty-two percent said neither was suitable.
According to the survey, the breakdown of mandates would be as follows:
• Right-wing bloc:
Likud – 26
Shas – 10
Otzma Yehudit – 10
United Torah Judaism – 8
Religious Zionism – 5
Total: 59 mandates
• Left-wing bloc:
National Unity – 17
Yesh Atid – 12
Israel Beiteinu – 13
Labor – 9
Total: 51 mandates
• Arab parties:
Ra’am (United Arab List) – 6
Hadash-Ta’al – 4