Poll: 55% of Israelis want Netanyahu to step down, as the coalition drops to 49 seats and the opposition strengthens to a majority.
A slight majority of Israelis surveyed would prefer that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not run in the upcoming Knesset elections and instead retire from political life, a poll published by Maariv on Friday found.
Out of those surveyed, 55% held this view as compared to 38% who want Netanyahu to run in the elections, leading the Likud Party. 7% said that they did not know how they felt.
The survey also queried voting intentions for an upcoming Knesset election.
The weekly survey found that both Likud and Itamar Ben-Gvir's Otzma Yehudit Party dropped one seat each compared to last week.
This would drop the coalition bloc to 49 mandates, while the opposition (not including Arab parties) strengthened to a majority of 61 seats.
This majority would be achieved by the current opposition despite the Sephardi haredi (ultra-Orthodox) Shas Party, a coalition member, gaining an extra seat.
Gadi Eisenkot's Yashar! Party gained an extra seat, reaching 16. All other opposition parties, including the Arab parties, remained unchanged compared to last week's poll.
Poll explores ramifications of alternative electoral scenarios
The survey also investigated whether party mandates would change under certain political unions and alliances.
A joint list of Reservists Party leader Yoaz Hendel and Chili Tropper (who left Benny Gantz's Blue and White Party earlier this month) would pass the electoral threshold, achieving four seats.
The poll also investigated what could happen if Eisenkot joins former prime ministers Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid's Together Party list. The survey found that this joint list would receive 49 seats, two more than last week.
Meanwhile, Yair Golan's Democrats Party would gain 11 seats under this scenario, as opposed to 10 if Eisenkot does not join Together. Notably, the Democrats received 14 mandates in last week's poll, largely bolstered by those who do not want a triple list between Bennett, Eisenkot, and Lapid.
The survey, conducted by Lazar Research under Dr. Menachem Lazar in cooperation with Panel4All, was conducted on Tuesday and Wednesday, May 12-13, among 502 respondents representing Israel's adult population aged 18 and over, Jews and Arabs. The maximum margin of error was 4.4%.