Former Israeli army chief pulls ahead of Netanyahu in opinion poll

Former Israeli army chief and opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot has pulled ahead of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a new Israeli opinion poll published Wednesday amid declining support for opposition figures Yair Lapid and Naftali Bennett.

According to the poll aired by Israel’s Channel 13, Eisenkot was viewed as more suitable for the premiership than Netanyahu by 43% of respondents compared to 39% for the Israeli premier.

The survey also showed Eisenkot leading Bennett by 42% to 21%, while Netanyahu outperformed Bennett by 44% to 41%.

If parliamentary elections were held today, Netanyahu’s Likud party would win 23 seats, while Eisenkot’s opposition Yashar party would secure 20 seats, according to the poll.

The survey showed a further decline for the opposition alliance led by Lapid and Bennett, which would receive 15 seats.

Overall, Netanyahu’s ruling coalition would obtain 53 seats in the 120-member Knesset compared to 57 seats for opposition parties, while Arab parties would secure 10 seats.

Channel 13 did not disclose the survey’s date, sample size or margin of error. It said the poll was supervised by a team of researchers including Shmuel Rosner, Yosef Maklada, Dr. Ariel Ayalon, Dori Dror and Prof. David Steinberg.

The findings come amid intensifying political debate in Israel over the country’s wars, security policy and future leadership ahead of any potential elections.

A separate poll published Friday by the Maariv newspaper showed the opposition would be capable of forming a government if elections were held today, winning 61 seats compared to 49 for Netanyahu’s bloc.

*Writing by Tarek Chouiref