Netanyahu’s Likud Party Loses More Popularity, Making Government Formation More Difficult

According to a recent poll conducted by the Kantar Institute, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party continues to lose popularity, making his return to government increasingly difficult. According to a new survey published by Israel’s public broadcaster KAN, support for Netanyahu’s Likud party has continued to decline ahead of the general elections scheduled for October, making his chances of forming a government once again increasingly uncertain.

The survey, conducted by the Kantar Institute among 551 Israelis aged 18 and above, including Arab citizens, found that if elections were held today, Likud would lose another seat compared with last week’s poll. This would leave the party with only 20 seats in Israel’s 120-member parliament, the Knesset. Despite the decline in Likud’s popularity, Netanyahu’s broader political bloc would still secure 52 seats. However, this remains nine seats short of the 61 seats required to form a majority government.

Israel’s political situation has become even more complicated following the emergence of a new alliance led by politician Yoaz Hendel and economist Yaron Zelekha. The new alliance is projected to win four seats and is currently not aligned with either of Israel’s main political blocs. Even if the new alliance were to join Netanyahu’s camp, his bloc would have only 56 seats, leaving it five seats short of the parliamentary majority required to form a government.

These results indicate that, based solely on his current allies and the potential support of the new alliance, Netanyahu is unlikely to be able to form a government at present. Meanwhile, the opposition bloc led by former military chief Gadi Eisenkot has also seen its projected seats decline, from 55 in last week’s poll to 51. The Kantar Institute survey was conducted with a margin of error of 4.2 percent.

The findings come from a poll conducted shortly before Israel’s general elections on October 27, where the competition among political alliances to strengthen their positions and secure the prime minister’s seat has become increasingly intense.