Survey data conducted by the Direct Polls Institute and published this evening (Tuesday) on the i24 channel indicates that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Likud are strengthening.
According to the poll, Likud maintains first place and gains two seats compared to last week's i24 poll - and receives 29 seats. Eisenkot's Yashar party loses one seat and drops to 19 seats.
Naftali Bennett's 'Together' party maintains its strength with 11 seats, while the 'Democrats' gains one seat and also receives 11 seats.
Shas maintains its strength from the previous poll with 9 seats, while Yisrael Beiteinu loses one seat and gains 9 seats. Otzma Yehudit maintains its strength with 8 seats, as does United Torah Judaism - with 8 seats.
'The Joint List remains stable with 7 seats, and Mansour Abbas's GNA with 5 seats. Religious Zionism drops by one seat and receives four seats.
Map of blocs: The coalition bloc increases by one seat to 58 seats, the opposition bloc, together with the Arab parties that refused to condemn Hamas, stands at 62 seats.
As part of the survey, respondents were asked: What government would you prefer to be formed immediately after the elections? 23% preferred a narrow right-wing-ultra-Orthodox government, and 27% preferred a narrow center-left-RAM government. 50% of the respondents preferred a national government as broad as possible.
Opposition voters who support a broad national government were asked in the survey whether they would be willing to accept Netanyahu as prime minister. 14% responded, "Yes, a broad national government is more important than anything at this time." 83% said, "No, I have red lines." 3% indicated that they did not know.
Coalition voters who support a broad national government were asked whether they would be willing to accept Eisenkot as prime minister in such a government: 22% responded, "Yes, a broad national government is more important than anything at this time." 70% responded, "No, I have red lines." 8% indicated that they did not know.
Commentary by Zuriel Sharon, CEO of Direct Falls, about the survey:
The Prime Minister's latest statement about a broad government suddenly brought the discourse of "togetherness" back to the center of the public agenda. Politicians were quick to respond, commentators in the studios began forming alternative coalitions, and we at Direct Falls set out to find out what the Israeli public really thinks about this move.
The first figure, on the surface, seems like encouraging news for consensus enthusiasts: 50% of the public support the establishment of a government as broad as possible. When you dive in, you discover that this desire does not belong to just one side of the political map. This support is distributed in a relatively balanced way: 57% of the supporters of a broad government come from the coalition bloc, and 43% come from the opposition bloc.
Ostensibly, there is a solid public infrastructure here. However, this optimistic picture tends to shatter the moment one moves from general slogans to political and personal reality. When we asked whether, within the framework of that government, Israelis would be willing to accept the head of the other camp in the prime minister's chair, the answers were reversed: Among opposition voters, 83% refuse to accept Netanyahu, and among right-wing voters, 70% refuse to accept Gadi Eisenkot. The immediate conclusion was that the public wants unity, ostensibly, but on its own terms and without paying the political price.
But then the next statistic arrived, and it spilt the beans again: When we asked the public a direct question, "Would you vote for a party that would commit to joining only a broad national government?", we discovered a dramatic statistic that should keep every political strategist awake at night, with an emphasis on the right side of the map:
25% of coalition voters state that such a commitment would be a decisive consideration for them in favor of voting for the party. Among opposition voters, on the other hand, only 14% see it as a decisive consideration in favor, while among the entire sample, this is a significant figure of 20% of the public.
These numbers turn the tables. While the public in the opposition is less enthusiastic about tying their hands in advance to form a broad government, in the coalition bloc there is a huge segment of a quarter of voters who are actively seeking this option, with an emphasis on pushing some of the ultra-Orthodox parties out.
This is no longer a theoretical discourse about "prices" or studio fantasies. A quarter of coalition voters are telling us loudly: If a party arises that will wave the flag of broad government as a threshold demand, we will seriously consider transferring our vote to it.
This is a huge electoral potential, which creates an entirely new political opportunity, and on the other hand - places a glaring warning sign before the existing parties in the national bloc. Although the public has difficulty digesting the leaders of the other camp at the head of the government, the public hunger for stability and unity is strong enough to translate itself at the ballot box into mandates that may change the face of the political system.
