A poll published by Channel 12 News on Sunday evening finds that the public believes that the chairman of the National Unity Party, Minister Benny Gantz, is the most suitable candidate for Prime Minister.
Gantz leads with 43% compared to 27% who said that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is more suitable for the role. 22% of respondents answered that neither is suitable, and 8% answered "I don't know".
When asked who is more suitable to be Prime Minister – Netanyahu or Yair Lapid, the Likud chairman leads with 31%, compared to 25% for Lapid. In response to this question, 39% believed that neither candidate is suitable for the position.
The poll also found that 51% of respondents believe that the elections should be moved forward, 39% answered that there is no need to do so and 10% answered "I don't know". Among voters of the pro-Netanyahu bloc, only 20% answered that moving the elections forward is necessary, compared to 68% who answered that it is not necessary. Among the voters of the group that opposes Netanyahu, a huge majority (81%) is in favor of moving the Knesset elections forward, compared to 13% who answered that it was not necessary.
In addition, 31% believe that Gantz and Gadi Eisenkot should leave the government, compared to 43% who think that the two ministers should stay put, and 26% who answered "I don't know".
If the elections were to be held today, the poll found, the National Unity Party led by Benny Gantz would win 37 seats, and the Likud led by Benjamin Netanyahu would win 18 seats.
Yesh Atid, led by opposition leader Yair Lapid, wins 15 seats. Shas, led by Aryeh Deri, gains strength compared to previous polls, increasing to 11 seats. Yisrael Beytenu led by Avigdor Liberman and Otzma Yehudit led by Itamar Ben Gvir each win 9 seats.
United Torah Judaism led by Yitzhak Goldknopf remains stable with 7 seats, Hadash-Ta'al and Ra’am each win 5 seats, and Meretz maintains strength with 4 seats. The Religious Zionist Party, led by Bezalel Smotrich, remains below the electoral threshold, leaving it outside the Knesset together with the Balad and Labor parties.