Israel Begins Election Period as Public Rates Coalition and Opposition Poorly

Israel officially entered its election period on Friday with the dissolution of the 25th Knesset. A poll conducted by Channel 13, led by Shmuel Rosner, asked the public to rate the coalition and opposition on a scale from 1 to 10 at the end of their term. The coalition received a low average score of 3.65, while the opposition scored even lower at 3.26. Coalition supporters rated their own members higher at 7.13 but gave the opposition a low 2.38. Conversely, opposition supporters rated the coalition at 2.48 and their own side slightly better at 3.68.

Regarding voting intentions, 28% of respondents were certain they would vote for coalition parties, 41% for opposition parties, and 7% for swing parties such as Blue and White led by Benny Gantz or Israel Resilience led by Yoaz Hendel and Hili Tropper. The poll also asked participants to place Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and "Yisrael" party leader Gadi Eisenkot on a left-right political scale from 1 (far left) to 10 (far right). Netanyahu scored 7.57 overall, indicating a right-leaning perception, while Eisenkot scored 4.94, seen as leaning left. Among coalition supporters, Netanyahu scored 7.62 and Eisenkot 3.53. Opposition supporters rated Netanyahu slightly less right at 7.1 and Eisenkot more right-leaning at 5.59.

The survey was conducted by Channel 13 News with contributions from Stat-Net, Askaria, and the Midgam Project, with consulting by Professor David Steinberg.