Yamina chairman MK Naftali Bennett is the leading candidate to replace Binyamin Netanyahu as prime minister from outside the Likud party, according to a new poll of right-wing voters conducted by Prof. Camille Fuchs.
According to the survey, which commissioned by a philanthropic foundation from abroad and whose results were provided to Arutz Sheva, about a third of right-wing voters support the idea of replacing the prime minister without an election.
Among all right-wing voters, there is no clear preference as to whether Netanyahu's successor should come from within the Likud (35%) or outside the party (31%).
Among Yisrael Beiteinu voters, there is greater preference for replacements outside the Likud (39%) compared to from the Likud's members (24%), and among Likud voters the figures are the opposite, with 37% preferring Netanyahu's replacement to come from the Likud's ranks compared to 27% who prefer the replacement to come from outside the party.
The most prominent candidates for replacing Netanyahu among Likud members are Gideon Saar (31%) followed by Nir Barkat (22%). Yisrael Katz and Tzachi Hanegbi were chosen by less than 5% of the respondents. Among Likud voters, the gap between Gideon Saar and Nir Barkat is only 5%, compared with 9% from the total sample.
Among the candidates from outside the Likud, Naftali Bennett receives the highest support, with a significant gap between him and Avigdor Liberman, who received the second highest amount of support at just eight percent. Among Yamina voters, the majority for Bennett is much higher (85%), while among Yisrael Beiteinu the support for Liberman is higher than in the entire sample (22%) but still lower than the support for Bennett as a non-Likud prime ministerial candidate (29%). Among Likud voters, Bennett has 50% support, similar to the overall sample, but Lieberman has 5% support, even less than Blue and White Minister Gabi Ashkenazi (7%).
The respondents were also asked, "Do you agree that Netanyahu is directly responsible for the crisis of trust between the government and the citizens?"
The answers show that 57% of right-wing voters agree with the statement that Netanyahu is fully or partially responsible, according to the following detail: Among all respondents, 13% answered - "I agree that Netanyahu is responsible", and another 44% answered "Netanyahu is responsible, but he is not the only one. On the other hand, 39% responded "I do not agree that Netanyahu is responsible."
Among Likud voters. 5% of them answered - "I agree that Netanyahu is responsible", and another 44% answered "Netanyahu is responsible, but he is not the only one. On the other hand, 46% answered" I do not agree that Netanyahu is responsible."
Among Likud voters. 5% of them answered - "I agree that Netanyahu is responsible", and another 44% answered "Netanyahu is responsible, but he is not the only one. On the other hand, 46% answered" I do not agree that Netanyahu is responsible."
The survey was conducted between November 8, 2020 and November 11, 2020, the sample included 613 respondents and was conducted among the voters of the following parties: Likud, Yamina, Yisrael Beiteinu, Shas and United Torah Judaism.