More Israelis prefer Gantz than Netanyahu as PM, poll finds

Margin significantly decreases if Gantz were to run as head of center-left party.

By LAHAV HARKOV
Updated: NOVEMBER 22, 2015 02:32
IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Benny Gantz (photo credit: REUTERS)
IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Benny Gantz
(photo credit: REUTERS)
If former IDF chief of staff Benny Gantz ran for prime minister, more Israelis would support him than current Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to a Chanel 2 poll broadcast Saturday.
The poll conducted by Dr. Mina Tzemach and Mano Geva pitted Netanyahu against various candidates for prime minister, and only Gantz surpassed him, with 44 percent choosing him rather than 32% for Netanyahu.
If Gantz were to run as the head of a center-left party, the margin between him and Netanyahu narrows to 4%, with 41% preferring the former chief of staff and 37% choosing Netanyahu.
Gantz has more than two years left to his legally mandated cooling- off period before he can run for the Knesset.
A plurality of those polled (44%) supported leaving the three-year waiting period for former senior officers, while 34.4% called to shorten it, 10.3% to lengthen it and 10.6% didn’t know.
Opposition leader Isaac Herzog (Zionist Union) has the lowest support, according to the poll, with 28% as opposed to 51% for Netanyahu against him, and Yesh Atid chairman Yair Lapid would have 32% of the vote if he ran head-to-head against Netanyahu, who would get 46%.
Former IDF chief of staff Gabi Ashkenazi, who has been embroiled in investigations of abuse of power allegations in recent years, would have 29% on his side if he ran against Netanyahu, who would receive 41%.
Former Shin Bet chief Yuval Diskin, who has said he does not want to run for politics, got 30% support as opposed to 39% for Netanyahu.