Poll: No immediate bump for Netanyahu from Trump endorsement; 81% of opposition supporters intend to vote, compared to 74% of pro-Netanyahu voters

A Channel 12 poll eight days before the election shows neither the anti- nor pro-Netanyahu blocs close to winning a 61-seat majority in the Knesset, with US President Donald Trump’s endorsement of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu giving no immediate bump in support for the premier.

In fact, the poll, which was conducted today, sees opposition front-runner Gadi Eisenkot widening the gap by which he is preferred to Netanyahu as prime minister by two percent compared to the same channel’s survey last week, to 45-33%. (Israel does not directly elect a prime minister, however.)

Presumably conducted at least partially before Benny Gantz announced this afternoon that his Blue and White party was withdrawing from the race, the survey shows some 6.5% of respondents voting for parties that are currently below the 3.25% electoral threshold, underlining the potential for parties narrowly clearing or falling just below the threshold to impact the result.

Channel 12 adds that the survey finds 72% intend to vote, but that among opposition voters the figure is 81%, while it is 74% among pro-Netanyahu voters.

The parties score as follows: Yashar 24 seats, Likud 21, B’Yachad 14, the Joint List 9, The Democrats 9, Yisrael Beytenu 8, Shas 8, Otzma Yehudit 8, Religious Zionism 7, United Torah Judaism 7, and Ra’am 5.

The People of Israel, Reservists, Blue and White, and Charedi Public parties all fall below the threshold and thus would not win any Knesset seats.

The anti-Netanyahu bloc totals 55 seats in the 120-member Knesset, and the pro-Netanyahu bloc has 51, with the balance held by the two Arab parties.

The poll surveyed 507 respondents and has a 4.4% margin of error.