New Poll Shows Gantz Leading Netanyahu in Israeli Election Race

A new public opinion poll conducted 35 days before the Knesset elections indicates that Benny Gantz's National Unity party is leading the political map with 23 seats. The Likud party, led by Benjamin Netanyahu, trails with 20 seats. The bloc supporting Netanyahu is projected to secure 50 seats, while the bloc opposing him is expected to win 54 seats.

The poll, published by Channel 12, shows that National Unity and Likud have maintained their strength compared to previous surveys. Naftali Bennett's party is projected to win 13 seats. Yair Golan's Democrats party has dropped to 9 seats, while Avigdor Lieberman's Yisrael Beiteinu has risen to 9 seats. United Torah Judaism is expected to get 8 seats, and Shas, led by Aryeh Deri, 7 seats.

Further down the spectrum, Itamar Ben-Gvir's Otzma Yehudit is projected to win 6 seats, and the Religious Zionism-Zehut alliance led by Bezalel Smotrich and Moshe Feiglin is expected to secure 5 seats. Ofer Winter's Am Israel party is projected to get 4 seats. Among Arab parties, the Joint List is projected to win 7 seats, a decrease of one seat from the previous poll, while the United Arab List is expected to win 5 seats, bringing the total for both Arab parties to 12 seats.

The "New Economy" alliance, led by Yoaz Hendel and Ronen Tzur, is projected to surpass the electoral threshold with 4 seats. Several parties, including Benny Gantz's, who is not running under the "Democrats" banner in this poll, "Blue and White," failed to reach the threshold. The poll also surveyed suitability for the role of Prime Minister, with Gantz leading Netanyahu by three points (41% to 38%). However, Netanyahu leads Bennett (41% to 37%) and Lieberman (38% to 28%) in hypothetical head-to-head matchups for the premiership.