A new poll has indicated that nearly half of Israelis (46%) believe that if forming a government is impossible unless Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu joins, then the opposition parties must join a government which includes him.
The poll, conducted by Lazar Research for Maariv, was published Friday morning.
It also indicates that 37% of respondents believe that Netanyahu should be excluded at all costs, even if that means holding a second round of elections; 17% of respondents have no opinion on the matter.
The poll also showed the coalition bloc weakening slightly: If elections were held today, the Likud would win 25 Knesset seats, followed by former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett's party with 21 seats.
The Democrats would be the third-largest party in the Knesset, holding 12 seats, and Yisrael Beytenu would be fourth-largest with 10 seats.
Three parties would win nine seats each - Sephardic-haredi Shas, Yesh Atid, and Gadi Eisenkot's "Yashar" - and two more, Otzma Yehudit and Ashkenazic-haredi United Torah Judaism, would win seven seats each.
The Arab parties, Hadash-Ta'al and Ra'am (United Arab List), would win six seats and five seats, respectively.
Religious Zionism, Blue and White, the Arab Balad party, and the Reservists would fail to pass the electoral threshold.
Divided into blocs, the coalition parties would win 48 Knesset seats, while those opposing Netanyahu would receive 61 seats. The Arab parties, which traditionally do not join either side, would hold the remaining 11 seats.