According to several surveys in the Israeli media in the past few weeks, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is slowly gaining more support - which he has lost since the October 7 massacre. Simultaneously, Benny Gantz's National Union, which had surged in polls at the beginning of the war, is losing movement.
According to poll numbers released on Tuesday, Netanyahu’s domestic support is rising. Israel’s Channel 14, a survey conducted by Direct Polls, shows that if elections were held today, Netanyahu’s Likud party would receive 28 mandates, and Gantz's National Union would receive 26. Channel 14 is the only news outlet openly supporting Netanyahu’s government.
According to this poll, Netanyahu’s coalition would secure 59 mandates, just two seats shy of its current number of 61.
Head-to-head
According to the Channel 14 survey, Netanyahu is the preferred candidate for prime minister in a matchup with Gantz, with 47% of the total sample supporting Netanyahu compared to Gantz's 34%. In a matchup with Yesh Atif Chairman Yair Lapid, Netanyahu receives 49%, and Lapid garners 28%.
Though other surveys from other mainstream Israeli media outlets portray a very different picture, the trend is clear: Netanyahu is slowly regaining part of his support, and Gantz is gradually losing it.
For instance, Maariv released its poll on Friday, showing very different results: The National Unity Party, experiencing a decline of two mandates, held only 36 seats according to the survey, marking a total decrease of four mandates within the past two weeks. Likud also faced a decline, losing one seat and falling to 17 mandates.
In contrast, the extreme-right Otzma Yehudit party has strengthened its position, the poll said, reaching its peak with ten mandates. The survey was conducted by Maariv in collaboration with Panel4All and led by Dr. Menachem Lazar from Lazar Research.
According to the Maariv poll, the changes in the perception of suitability for prime minister were minimal. Gantz received 48% support (compared to 49% in the previous survey), while Netanyahu retained 32%.
Two weeks ago, the same Maariv poll suggested Gantz’s National Unity party had lost two seats in a theoretical election while Netanyahu’s Likud party had picked up two new ones. The Likud was projected to receive 18 seats, while Gantz’s party had 38 seats.
According to the poll, Lapid’s Yesh Atid party continued to decrease its popularity, winning a theoretical 12 seats.
Three weeks ago, according to the Maariv poll, the National Unity party received 40 seats and the Likud 16 seats.