Poll Finds Most Israelis Want Netanyahu to Quit Before the Election

A new Friday-night “Studio Friday” poll, published June 19, 2026, shows broad public dissatisfaction with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and with the U.S.-Iran agreement. Four months before the election, 59% said Netanyahu should not run again and should step down, while 33% said he should run and 8% said they did not know. Among voters in Netanyahu’s camp, 11% also said he should not compete.

The survey also asked who should lead Likud after Netanyahu. Nir Barkat came first with 18%, followed by Justice Minister Yariv Levin with 9%, Defense Minister Israel Katz with 7%, and Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana with 6%. Former Mossad chief Yossi Cohen, once seen as a possible successor, received 4%. At the bottom were Minister Eli Cohen and former defense minister Yoav Gallant, who got just 1%. Another 17% said they did not know.

Respondents gave both Netanyahu and U.S. President Donald Trump poor marks for their handling of the confrontation with Iran and the resulting agreement. Netanyahu was rated “generally bad” by 56% and “generally good” by 37%. Trump fared worse, with 68% calling his handling “generally bad” and 25% saying “generally good.”

On the agreement itself, 67% said the deal signed between the United States and Iran is bad for Israel, compared with only 9% who said it is good and 24% who were unsure. The view crossed political lines, with 67% of coalition voters and 79% of opposition voters calling it bad for Israel. The poll also found that 45% think Iran will eventually obtain nuclear weapons, compared with 31% who think it will not and 24% who do not know.