Former IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz remains the only potential candidate who could win the next election against Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, a poll published Saturday night reveals.
In response to various questions pitting Netanyahu against individual candidates, 44% of respondents to the Mano Geva Institute survey on Channel 2 preferred Gantz over Netanyahu (32%).
For the remainder, Netanyahu won when compared to former Finance Minister Yair Lapid (46% vs. 32%), former Israel Security Agency (ISA or Shin Bet) chief Yuval Diskin (46% vs. 30%), and former IDF Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi (41% vs. 29%).
Bottoming out the poll: the race between Netanyahu and his real-life competitor in the past election, Zionist Union chairman and current Opposition leader Yitzhak Herzog. Just 28% preferred Herzog over Netanyahu, who lead at a staggering 51%.
The poll also asked respondents whether the mandatory cooling-off period from politics for former chiefs of staff should be rescinded to allow Gantz to make a political comeback. 44% believed in keeping the three-year period intact, 34% believed it should be shortened, and 11% believed in extending it.