Poll finds Likud members would put Gotliv atop electoral slate, second only to Netanyahu

By Sam Sokol 6 January 2026, 1:09 pm

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Sam Sokol is a former political correspondent at The Times of Israel. He was previously a reporter for the Jerusalem Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Haaretz. He is the author of "Putin’s Hybrid War and the Jews"

Likud MK Tally Gotliv attends a High Court hearing on petitions against the appointment of retired judge Yosef Ben-Hamo to lead the probe into the Sde Teiman abuse leak, at the High Court of Justice in Jerusalem, November 27, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

A recent poll of party members published by the Walla news site finds that firebrand Likud legislator Tally Gotliv, who entered the Knesset at the 25th slot on the party’s slate, would come in first in a non-leadership primary to choose the party’s electoral list, edging out current Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana at number two.

Over 140,000 Likud members are eligible to vote in internal elections for the party slate. Israel is slated to hold elections in October 2026, although if the government fails to pass the 2026 budget by the end of March, the elections will be moved up.

Gotliv’s pugnacious approach to politics has made her one of the Knesset’s more recognizable backbenchers and may be responsible for turning her into a rising star within Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud. She came in ahead of Justice Minister Yariv Levin (no. 11), with whom she has publicly sparred.

Netanyahu is reportedly concerned about Gotliv’s rise. According to Channel 12, Netanyahu complained to Levin last month that Gotliv is costing Likud 3-5 Knesset seats, a report denied by the Prime Minister’s Office.

The poll of 1,223 Likud members representing so-called “free votes” not connected to any voting deals or blocs, was conducted by researchers at Tel Aviv University. The poll has a margin of error of 3.8 percent.

Following Ohana are MK Moshe Saada, Deputy Minister Almog Cohen — a member of National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir’s ultranationalist Otzma Yehudit party who had a falling out with his faction and is widely expected to jump ship to Likud — Defense Minister Israel Katz, Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee chairman Boaz Bismuth, Energy Minister Eli Cohen, Diaspora Minister Amichai Chikli, Transportation Minister Miri Regev and Social Equality Minister May Golan.

According to Walla, Bismuth’s drop from sixth place in a previous poll is likely due to internal party opposition to his revised Haredi draft exemption bill, which he is currently shepherding through his committee. While the bill proposes continued military service exemptions to full-time yeshiva students, Walla reports that 61% of Likud voters polled believe in drafting Haredim and sanctioning evaders.

While Gotliv tells The Times of Israel that “a poll is just a poll” and warns against making too much out of it, she also frames her improved standing as an endorsement of her approach from the party’s base.

“I can only say that I am grateful for the great trust I receive from the right-wing voters in Likud, who see the correctness of my path, and theirs, reflected in my work in the Knesset and in shifting the discourse toward right-wing governance, and in pursuing this path without apologizing,” she says.