Likud, coalition gain ground following Trump's Gaza plan, poll shows

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition bloc has surged to 53 seats, and its leading party, the Likud, has gained three seats, according to findings published in Maariv‘s hebdomadary Friday poll.

The polling, which was conducted by Lazar Research in collaboration with Panel4All and led by Dr. Menachem Lazar, came following US President Donald Trump’s announcement of his takeover plan for the Gaza Strip during a press conference with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington earlier this week.

Likud reached 24 sets, and Itamar Ben-Gvir’s party, Otzma Yehudit, received nine seats.

In the opposition bloc, the National Unity Party headed by Benny Gantz lost two seats, dropping to 17, while The Democrats dropped by one seat, arriving at 12 mandates.

The Maariv survey also indicated that were a new party led by Naftali Bennett to run for elections, such a party would drop by two seats to 24 compared to last week’s polling. Likud rose by the same margin to 22 seats in this scenario.

NAFTALI BENNETT in the Knesset this week – he was left playing lead soloist with some admirers, but few true followers willing to pay to see him perform, in a band that was breaking up. (credit: OLIVIER FITOUSSI/FLASH90)

About half of Israelis (47%) believe there is a chance that President Trump’s plan regarding the Gaza Strip could actually be implemented, mainly due to the overwhelming majority of coalition party voters (78%) who hold this belief.

Some 38% of Israelis do not believe the plan will materialize. This stance is particularly prominent among nearly all voters of Arab parties and 58% of opposition party voters.

Implementation of hostage deal

With regard to the hostage deal, according to the poll, 40% of Israelis believe that the deal will be fully completed (compared to 36% last week), while 29% think it will not. Another 31% are unsure.

When broken down by political camps, coalition voters clearly lean toward optimism, with 48% believing the deal will be completed, compared to 23% who think it will not.

Meanwhile, opposition voters are evenly split between optimism and pessimism, with 36% on each side.

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