Poll: Netanyahu’s Likud Takes Lead Over Rival Gantz’s Blue and White

TEL AVIV – A majority of Israelis believe Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will beat his main political rival Benny Gantz in April’s elections and serve another term, tie David Ben-Gurion and become the longest-serving prime minister in Israel’s history, a new poll aired Monday showed.

Fifty-three percent of respondents said Netanyahu is the most qualified candidate to be prime minister while 30 percent chose Gantz.

The poll was conducted by Panels Politics and aired on Channel 12 on Monday.

The poll also showed Netanyahu’s Likud outscoring Gantz’s Blue and White party for the first time — albeit by a single seat. Likud would win 31 seats if elections were held today while Blue and White would secure 30. Likud currently has 30 seats out of the Knesset’s 120 total.

The same channel aired a poll the day before showing Blue and White defeating Likud with 30 seats to 28.

With 66 seats, the religious-rightwing bloc would defeat the Arab-leftwing’s 54.

The Labor party and the Hadash-Ta’al joint Arab list would both gain nine seats.

The leftwing Meretz party would win six seats. Former defense minister Avigdor Liberman’s Yisrael Beytenu and the center-right Kulanu would gain four seats apiece.

Balad and the United Arab list’s joint ticket would fail to make the minimum 3.25% threshold, Monday’s poll showed.

The newly formed libertarian Zehut party would gain five seats. The New Right would receive six seats while the Union of Right-Wing Parties would secure five.