Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his Likud Party are surging in polls of Israeli voters after the victorious conclusion to the war in Gaza, with a hostage deal securing the return of 20 living captives.
The Times of Israel reported Thursday:
If elections were held today, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party would win 34 seats, according to a poll conducted by Zman Yisrael, The Times of Israel’s Hebrew-language sister site, marking a dramatic increase in support for the premier following the release of the living hostages and the ceasefire in Gaza.
This is the best result that Likud has received in any election poll since the Hamas assault of October 7, 2023, and the outbreak of war in Gaza.
In contrast, the new party of former prime minister Naftali Bennett, seen as Netanyahu’s main rival in the next elections, would receive just 20 seats if elections were held today.
In addition, Israel’s conservative-leaning Channel 14 found that Netanyahu is the overwhelming choice of Israelis for prime minister in the next election.
The Jewish News Syndicate reported:
Where suitability to serve as prime minister is concerned, the poll revealed that 58% of Israelis favor Netanyahu; 22% favor his closest rival, Naftali Bennett; and 11% favor former minister-without-portfolio (and former Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff) Gadi Eizenkot; 4% favor opposition leader and former prime minister Yair Lapid; 4% favor Yisrael Beiteinu Party leader Avigdor Liberman; and 1% favor National Unity Party head Benny Gantz.
The poll also found that if elections were held today, Netanyahu’s ruling coalition would win a 66-seat majority, two more seats than it won in the 2022 elections; opposition parties would garner 43 seats; and the anti-Zionist Arab parties would receive 11 seats.
Netanyahu has been attacked in the Israeli and global media for his supposed unpopularity.
However, his success as a wartime leader, noted by President Donald Trump in his speech to the Knesset earlier this week, has rallied Israelis to his side.
Israel’s next elections are due in about a year. Netanyahu has been prime minister since 2009, save for a short interruption in 2021 and 2022.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of The Zionist Conspiracy Wants You, now available on Amazon. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
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