Bennett said forming new political party as poll puts him neck and neck with Likud
Report says activists have been reaching out to former PM’s old voter base to raise support; 40% say he is best suited to lead country, compared to 29% for Netanyahu
Former prime minister Naftali Bennett has started making preparations for his yet-to-be-announced return to politics, according to a Saturday report, as he continues to top electoral polls despite not currently being involved in any capacity.
Over the last few months, Bennett has been in the process of forming a new political party, Channel 12 reported, and in recent days, organizers began reaching out to his old voter base to inquire about support and find activists willing to volunteer in the field as the party finds its footing.
Some 100 activists who had canvassed for Bennett in the past were contacted over the last few days, the report said, and some have already started campaigning for him over text, despite the party not having a name yet.
Despite, or perhaps because of, his resignation from politics in November 2022, several polls published over the last month have shown Bennett to be the only individual deemed more suitable than Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to serve as premier.
Channel 12’s latest survey, published Friday, found that 40 percent of respondents said that in a head-to-head match they believed Bennett was more suited to steer the country, while 29% chose Netanyahu. An additional 25% said neither of them were suited, and 6% said they didn’t know.
In comparison, when asked to choose between Opposition Leader Yair Lapid and Netanyahu, 29% of people chose Lapid and 31% said they believed Netanyahu to be more suited. Thirty-four percent of people said that neither of the two was the correct choice.
In a head-to-head with National Unity chair Benny Gantz, 34% of survey participants said that Netanyahu was more suited for the role of prime minister, while 28% said they preferred Gantz. An additional 31% of people answered that neither of them was suited for the role.
A party led by Bennett would be one of the largest in the Knesset, the latest Channel 12 survey found, and would be neck and neck with Likud, with each receiving 20 seats — a far cry from the seven Bennett’s party received in the 2021 elections.
With Bennett back in the game, Gantz’s National Unity would receive 13 seats, and Lapid’s Yesh Atid would win 11, down from a predicted 21 and 15, respectively, were Bennett not to run.
The parties that make up the governing coalition would win 46 seats if elections were held today with the inclusion of Bennett, the poll found, and 49 seats without him. The parties that made up the previous government — which was led by Bennett and Lapid in a rotation agreement but fell after about a year — would win 69 seats with a party led by Bennett and 66 without.
Elections are not scheduled to be held for another two years. Anti-government protests calling for early elections have drawn hundreds of thousands of people.
