Poll: Sa’ar the current favorite among Likud voters to succeed Netanyahu

MK Gideon Sa’ar is the current favorite among Likud supporters to take the reins of the ruling party after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to a poll released today.

Twenty-two percent of Likud voters in the Channel 12 survey said they want Sa’ar, a former minister who returned to the Knesset after April’s elections following a nearly five year hiatus, to be the party’s next leader.

He is followed by Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan and Culture Minister Miri Regev with 12% a piece. Another 9% say they want Foreign Minister Israel Katz to be the next Likud chairman, while Yuli Edelstein, who finished first in the party’s primary, was the favorite of 6% of Likud supporters.

Twenty-three percent of poll respondents say they don’t know who they want to lead Likud after Netanyahu, while 16% say they prefer someone other than the aforementioned figures.

Netanyahu has led Likud since 2005, when then party chairman and prime minister Ariel Sharon jumped ship to form Kadima. Netanyahu also headed Likud from 1993 to 1999.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shakes hands with Gideon Sa’ar during a Likud party meeting at the Menachem Begin Heritage Center in Jerusalem on March 11, 2019. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)