New Poll Shows First-Time Voters Favor Benny Gantz, Surprise Low for Itamar Ben-Gvir

A new poll surveying young Israelis aged 18-22, who will be voting for the first time, indicates that Benny Gantz's National Unity party would receive 16% of their votes if elections were held today. The Likud party follows closely with 14%. Notably, Otzma Yehudit, led by National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, garnered only 5% of the vote, a surprisingly low figure, even trailing behind the Religious Zionism party, which received 6%.

Within the Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) community, the poll revealed a significant shift, with United Torah Judaism receiving 45% of the votes from first-time Haredi voters, while Shas secured only 20%. Otzma Yehudit surprisingly placed third among this demographic with 13%, suggesting Ben-Gvir may be drawing votes from Shas.

Despite 74% of these young voters identifying as right-wing or center-right, their voting intentions do not dramatically differ from the general population's current polling. The survey, conducted by Midgam Institute for "Ha'Idra Ha'Merkazit," also found that 59% of first-time voters intend to vote similarly to their parents, while 21% plan to vote differently.

Regarding suitability for prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu leads among the youth when pitted against Gantz (47% to 37%) and against Benny Gantz (46% to 34%). The survey included 301 respondents and has a maximum sampling error of 4.4%.