As for the preferred candidate for prime minister, 41% of respondents said Netanyahu is the best choice, compared to 40% who supported Gantz for the position.

A new poll showed that 56% of Israelis support the formation of a national unity government that would work to secure the return of captives from Gaza and set a date for parliamentary elections, the Anadolu news agency has reported, citing the Israeli Maariv newspaper.

As much as 22% of the respondents, however, opposed the idea, and another 22% were undecided, the report said.

The survey, conducted by the private Lazar Institute, included a random sample of 503 Israelis, with a margin of error of 4.4%.

According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, 41,118 Palestinians have been killed, and 95,125 wounded in Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza starting on October 7. Moreover, at least 11,000 people are unaccounted for, presumed dead under the rubble of their homes throughout the Strip.

About 101 captives are still believed to be in the besieged enclave. Negotiations to end the conflict continue through mediators; the US, Qatar and Egypt.

‘Surprising Results’

In what the Hebrew daily described as “surprising results,” the poll also said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party could win 24 seats in the Israeli parliament (the Knesset) if elections were held today.

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Coming in second was the National Unity party, led by Benny Gantz, with 21 seats, followed by opposition leader Yair Lapid’s Yesh Atid party, with 15. Avigdor Lieberman’s Yisrael Beiteinu party could grab 14 seats.

Overall, Netanyahu’s bloc is projected to hold 53 seats, compared to 58 seats for the opposition, with Arab parties holding nine seats. To form a government, a coalition needs the support of at least 61 members of the 120-seat Knesset.

No elections are currently on the horizon, originally scheduled for 2026.

Preferred Candidate

As for the preferred candidate for prime minister, 41% of respondents said Netanyahu is the best choice, compared to 40% who supported Gantz for the position.

When comparing Netanyahu to Lapid, 47% viewed Netanyahu as the more suitable candidate, while 34% backed Lapid.

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In a comparison with Lieberman, 43% favored Netanyahu, while 32% supported the former as the better candidate.

However, Netanyahu did not surpass former right-wing Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, who was considered the best candidate by 43% of respondents, while 37% backed Netanyahu.

Bennett, who served as prime minister from June 13, 2021, to June 30, 2022, has not officially declared a return to political competition.

UN Resolution Ignored

Israel has flouted a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire and has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza.

Currently on trial before the International Court of Justice for genocide against Palestinians, Israel has been waging a devastating war on Gaza since October 7.

Israel says that 1,200 soldiers and civilians were killed during the Al-Aqsa Flood Operation on October 7. Israeli media published reports suggesting that many Israelis were killed on that day by ‘friendly fire’.

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Palestinian and international organizations say that the majority of those killed and wounded are women and children.

The Israeli war has resulted in an acute famine, mostly in northern Gaza, resulting in the death of many Palestinians, mostly children.

The Israeli aggression has also resulted in the forceful displacement of nearly two million people from all over the Gaza Strip, with the vast majority of the displaced forced into the densely crowded southern city of Rafah near the border with Egypt – in what has become Palestine’s largest mass exodus since the 1948 Nakba.

Later in the war, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians began moving from the south to central Gaza in a constant search for safety.

(Anadolu, PC)