A recent Israeli public opinion poll showed that only 32 percent of Israelis see Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as the most suitable figure for the prime ministership.
The Israeli daily Mariv published the results of the survey on Friday, stating that 32 percent of respondents “believed that Netanyahu is the most suitable for the position of prime minister, while 52 percent said that War Cabinet member Beni Gantz is more suitable for the position.”
The newspaper states that the situation, according to the poll, is similar to the situation from last week when the poll showed that 31 percent of Israelis believe that Netanyahu is the most suitable for the prime minister, compared to 50 percent of those who prefer Ganz, writes AA.
The latest poll, conducted by the Lazar Institute on a random sample of 513 Israelis with an estimated margin of error of 4.3 percent, found that Netanyahu’s right-wing Likud party would lose half of its current 32 Knesset seats if elections were held in that year.
The National Unity Party, led by Gantz, would gain 40 seats compared to the current 12 seats, while the opposition would secure a total of 71 seats compared to the 44 seats of the pro-government parties.
In order to form a government in Israel, it is necessary to have at least 61 members of the Knesset.
Disagreements within the Israeli government are escalating between ministers who support Netanyahu’s policies regarding the country’s assault on Gaza and others who are trying to push for an agreement to secure the return of hostages held by the Palestinian group Hamas in the enclave.
Israel launched an offensive into the Gaza Strip after a cross-border attack by Hamas on October 7, which killed more than 26,000 and wounded 64,487 Palestinians. About 1,200 Israelis were killed in the Hamas attack.
According to United Nations data, due to the Israeli offensive, 85 percent of the population of Gaza has been internally displaced and faces an acute shortage of food, clean water, and medicine, while 60 percent of the enclave’s infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed.
