Poll: Support for Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu’s Right-Wing Likud Party Surges Domestically

Domestic support for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his right-wing Likud Party is on the rise as the Jewish State’s war against the Iran-backed Islamic terror group Hamas advances, according to poll numbers showing the right-wing bloc in Israel nearing 60 seats.

Israel’s Channel 14 published the results of a survey that Direct Polls conducted on Thursday evening, showing that if elections were held now, Netanyahu’s Likud Party would receive 28 mandates. The results are one of its best numbers since the October 7 massacre — the most brutal attack on Jews since the Nazi Holocaust — and an increase of four mandates from the previous poll.

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Furthermore, in a contest for prime minister between Netanyahu and his longtime rival, centrist Benny Gantz, Netanyahu is the favored candidate, significantly leading with 48 percent support — the highest in 2o24 — compared to Gantz’s 28 percent.

The poll also showed Gantz’s National Unity Party coming in far second, receiving only 16 mandates.

The surge in Netanyahu’s support can be attributed largely to his stance against Hamas and a Palestinian state despite U.S. and domestic pressures.

Noting that Netanyahu’s Likud Party is “trouncing” Gantz’s centrist party in the country’s parliament, conservative American-Israeli columnist Caroline Glick explained that the latest polls demonstrate that “Israelis value victory over every other goal.” 

The survey used a digital system combined with a panel. It sampled 779 adults (18+) representing Israel’s general population, with a statistical sampling error of ± 4.0 percent at a 95 percent confidence level.

The poll comes as Israel continues to face threats from Iranian proxies, including Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen, and militias in Iraq and Syria.

In the early hours of Friday morning, an explosion was heard near the former U.S. embassy on the beachfront in Tel Aviv (now used as a branch office of the main U.S. embassy in Jerusalem), Breitbart News reported. Later, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed that an upgraded Iranian drone, which the Houthis fired, evaded air defenses and struck the coastal city, killing one civilian and wounding eight others.

In June, Gantz resigned from Israel’s War Cabinet reportedly due to the lack of a postwar plan for Gaza. Following his resignation, he called for new elections.