Netanyahu's popularity surges as Gaza genocide nears one year mark: Poll

The popularity of the Prime Minister and his Likud party fell drastically after the alleged intelligence failures on 7 October  

News Desk  - The Cradle

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at a cabinet meeting at the Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv on January 7, 2024. (Photo credit: Ronen Zvulun/POOL/AFP)

An opinion poll published on 13 September showed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party would win the largest number of seats in parliament if an election were held now.

The poll, published in the Hebrew language Maariv newspaper, showed Likud winning 24 Knesset seats against the 32 the party now holds. The National Unity Party led by former general Benny Gantz would receive 21 seats.

Though Likud would win the most seats, Netanyahu’s ruling coalition, which includes nationalist-religious and ultra-Orthodox parties, would lose any election held now, with 53 seats in the 120-seat parliament. The main opposition bloc would win 58 seats, according to the poll.

The survey also showed Netanyahu’s popularity is improving. Israelis responding to the poll said they preferred Netanyahu over any alternative potential candidate apart from former prime minister Naftali Bennett, who has retired from public life.

Earlier opinion polls taken after the start of the war in Gaza regularly showed Likud gaining only 16 to 18 seats.

Netanyahu and Likud’s popularity fell drastically, as many Israeli voters blamed the prime minister for the alleged security failures of the military and intelligence apparatus on 7 October. 

Members of Hamas’ armed wing, the Qassam Brigades, breached the Gaza border fence to attack Israeli settlements and military bases imposing a siege on the strip. Hamas and other Palestinian resistance groups were able to take 240 captives back to Gaza.

Some 1,200 Israelis were killed during the operation. Some were killed by Hamas fighters, while many were killed by Israeli attack helicopters, tanks, and drones under the controversial Hannibal Directive.

Netanyahu and his coalition partners, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, have refused a ceasefire deal with Hamas that would return the Israelis who are still captive in Gaza to continue the war that has killed over 40,000 Palestinians and destroy large swathes of the strip.

Netanyahu, Smotrich, and Ben Gvir established their ruling coalition following elections in late 2022. Israel’s next parliamentary election is not due until 2026.

In contrast to Likud, Ben Gvir’s Jewish Power party and Smotrich’s Religious Zionism party have fallen in popularity since 7 October. Both parties would, therefore, have an incentive not to leave the government and call for early elections, Reuters reported.