Poll shows surge in support for Gantz has staying power

A new poll has found that the popularity of the Israel Resilience party is holding steady a week after it surged in opinion polls following the maiden speech by party leader Benny Gantz last week.

But despite the leap in the number of seats Gantz’s party is expected to win in the April 9 general election, Netanyahu still remains the best placed to form a governing coalition.

Gantz’s party, which he formed just last month, could win between 21-24 seats in the 120-member Knesset, according to opinion polls conducted by Israel’s three main television stations, following his speech last Tuesday. Before last week, Israel Resilience was slated to win between 12-15 seats.

According to a Haaretz-Dialog poll published today, Gantz’s party has kept up the support over the last week, showing that Israel Resilience is on track to win 22 seats in April.

Netanyahu’s ruling right-wing Likud party, which currently holds a quarter of the Knesset seats, has been projected to win 30 or 31 seats in recent opinion polls. Today’s Haaretz-Dialog poll shows Likud maintaining its voter base, projecting the ruling party to take 30 seats in the upcoming elections.