New Poll Shows Netanyahu's Likud and Ben-Gvir's Party Losing Support

A new Kan News poll indicates that Ofer Winter's "Am Israel" party and Bezalel Smotrich's Religious Zionism are projected to surpass the electoral threshold for the first time. This comes at the expense of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party and Itamar Ben-Gvir's Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Power), both of which are experiencing a significant decline in support.

The Likud party is currently projected to win 21 seats, a decrease of one seat since the previous poll and three seats since the beginning of the month. Otzma Yehudit has fallen from nine seats to seven, its lowest result in the poll. On the opposing side, Yair Golan's Democrats party and Avigdor Lieberman's Yisrael Beiteinu party each lost one seat, now projected at nine and eight seats respectively.

Meanwhile, Gadi Eisenkot's "Yashar" party remains stable with 24 seats, as does Naftali Bennett's "Achva" party with 14 seats. However, the losses for the Democrats and Yisrael Beiteinu have weakened the bloc opposing Netanyahu, reducing it to 55 seats from 57. Netanyahu's bloc gained one seat, rising to 52, while Arab parties collectively increased to 13 seats due to the strengthening of the Joint List.

In terms of leadership suitability, Netanyahu slightly leads Bennett, with 37% to 36% of respondents favoring them for prime minister. Eisenkot still leads Netanyahu on this question, with 40% believing he is the more suitable candidate. The poll also explored potential party mergers, suggesting that a union between Smotrich and Ben-Gvir would result in 10 seats, down from 12 if they ran separately, and would boost Winter's party to 5 seats. If Smotrich were to merge with Moshe Feiglin's party, Religious Zionism would gain 7 seats, tying with Ben-Gvir, while Winter would fall below the electoral threshold. In all scenarios examined, Benny Gantz, Gilad Erdan, and Mickey Troller are projected to fall short of the electoral threshold.

Regarding security, 41% of respondents believe Eisenkot should receive security protection from the Shin Bet, while 29% oppose it. The opposite is true for Golan, with 43% opposing protection and only 30% supporting it. The poll also noted the presence of Yosef Haddad and Netali Shem Tov in Winter's "Am Israel" party.