Poll: Israelis prefer Netanyahu as PM to Lapid, Bennett and Gantz
Survey indicates rise in support for premier; report says premier considering offering defense minister role to Gideon Sa’ar to bolster his coalition
More Israelis believe Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is better suited to lead the country than Opposition Leader Yair Lapid, former premier Naftali Bennett, and National Unity chair Benny Gantz, according to a new television poll published Friday.
Asked who they prefer for the role of prime minister, 32 percent of respondents to the Channel 12 news survey said Netanyahu and 28% Lapid, while 31% said neither and 4% said they didn’t know.
Between Netanyahu and Bennett, 33% of respondents said they prefer the premier while 32% voice support for the former prime minister, with 31% saying neither is fitted to the role and 4% answering “don’t know.”
Between Netanyahu and Gantz, 32% said they prefer the incumbent, while 28% said they would back the National Unity chair.
The poll, which appeared to mark a rise in support for Netanyahu, was broadcast two days after he addressed a joint session of Congress in Washington, a day after he held talks at the White House with President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, and shortly after he was hosted by Republican presidential nominee and former president Donald Trump in Florida.
But the Channel 12 poll said 65% of respondents said the speech did not change their views on the prime minister, while 48% believe he went to Washington to pursue his own personal interests, rather than those of the state (44%).
Respondents were also asked about other topics, such as whether they view the return of hostages or achieving “total victory” against the terror group Hamas as more important. A majority (62%) said that bringing the hostages home is more important, while 29% said total victory over Hamas is more important, and 9% said they did not know.
As to why a deal for the return of hostages has not been achieved yet, 51% said it was because of political considerations made by Netanyahu, while 40% said it was because of “serious, operational” considerations, and 9% said they did not know.
Hamas terrorists kidnapped 251 people during their October 7 rampage across southern Israel, also killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians.
It is believed that 111 of the hostages remain in Gaza, including the bodies of 39 confirmed dead by the IDF.
Hamas released 105 civilians during a weeklong truce in late November, and four hostages were released before that. Seven hostages have been rescued by troops alive, and the bodies of 24 hostages have also been recovered, including three abductees mistakenly killed by the military as they tried to escape their captors.
One more person has been listed as missing since October 7, and their fate is still unknown.
Hamas is also holding two Israeli civilians who entered the Strip in 2014 and 2015, as well as the bodies of two IDF soldiers who were killed in 2014.
Sa’ar as defense minister
As political tensions within Netanyahu’s coalition continued to simmer, Channel 12 also reported on Friday without citing sources that the premier was considering firing Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and replacing him with New Hope chair Gideon Sa’ar, echoing previous reports on the potential move to bring the former Netanyahu ally back into the coalition.
According to the report, Netanyahu has been holding consultations on the matter as the Knesset begins its three-month summer recess.
Sa’ar announced his party’s departure from the coalition in March after his demand to be admitted to the high-level war cabinet was denied. He has since harshly criticized the government’s management of the war in Gaza and has said he would be willing to make “concessions” to create a right-wing bloc opposing Netanyahu.
Nonetheless, the network said Sa’ar is considering the offer favorably, while also reporting that sources close to the MK deny he has received any such proposal.
Sa’ar broke away from Netanyahu’s Likud in 2020 and founded his New Hope party, pledging at the time to not join a Netanyahu-led government. Sa’ar broke the promise in the wake of the October 7 massacre, joining the emergency government as a minister without portfolio alongside Gantz and his National Unity slate, which Sa’ar became a part of before the last election.
The relationship between Netanyahu and Gallant has been fraught since the prime minister briefly fired Gallant in March 2023 because of the latter’s opposition to how the government’s proposed judicial overhaul was being advanced.
The two have also often not seen eye-to-eye as the war has gone on, with Netanyahu reportedly blocking a Gallant initiative at the beginning of the war to preemptively attack Hezbollah, and more recently, Gallant saying the currently proposed deal for the release of hostages should be accepted.
