New poll shows Gantz closing the gap on Netanyahu

Another poll conducted in the wake of ex-IDF chief of staff Benny Gantz’s maiden political speech Tuesday night shows the retired general is closing the gap on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ahead of the upcoming elections.

According to a poll by Hadashot news, Gantz’s Israel Resilience party would get 30 Knesset seats if elections were held today, up from 12 seats in recent polls. The results show that a Gantz-headed alliance with Yair Lapid’s Yesh Atid party would win 35 seats to the Likud’s 30.

The Hadashot poll also finds that 36% of Israelis prefer Netanyahu as prime minister, compared to $35% who say they prefer Gantz. Asked to place Gantz on the political spectrum, 30% said he was “neither right nor left” — which is what the candidate has himself asserted; 24% said he was left-leaning — which is what Likud says of him; 18% said he was right-leaning, and 28% didn’t know.