Binyamin Netanyahu
Binyamin NetanyahuMiriam Alster/Flash 90

Most Israelis would like to see Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu replaced after March elections but, paradoxically, he is seen as the most suitable for the job, an opinion poll said Thursday.

Elections will be held on March 17, just over two years after Netanyahu's right-leaning coalition took office. The 19th Knesset broke up following a spat in which the premier fired two ministers.

The survey conducted by the Dialog Institute and published by Haaretznewspaper, showed that 53 percent of those polled do not want Netanyahu to win a third consecutive term in office, for a total of four. 

Nevertheless, 34 percent agreed that the incumbent and head of the right-wing Likud Party is the most credible candidate and the most capable to be prime minister.

Coming a distant second, at 17 percent, was left-wing Labor Party head Yitzhak Herzog.

The survey also said Likud could end up neck and neck in a race for mandates with the alliance between Labor and centrist party Hatnua. Hatnua's head, former justice minister Tzipi Livni, was one of the two cabinet members sacked by Netanyahu.

In that case each would secure 21 seats in the 120-strong Knesset, parliament, said Dialog, which had given Likud 24 seats in a survey published three weeks ago.

A poll published by Maariv newspaper last week said the Labor-Hatnua alliance could gain 23 seats against 21 for Likud.

A total of 505 people were polled by Dialog in the latest survey which has a margin error of 4.2 percentage points.