Poll in Israel: The opposition will win if early elections are held news

An opinion poll in Israel showed that the opposition would be able to form a government if early elections were held today, by obtaining 61 seats in Parliament (Knesset), compared to 48 for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s camp.

The Israeli newspaper “Maariv” said on Friday, “For the first time in 3 weeks, the bloc opposing Netanyahu (excluding the Arab parties) has reached a majority of 61 seats.”

According to Israeli law, the formation of a government must obtain the confidence of at least 61 out of 120 representatives of the Knesset, whose current term ends in October of next year, while Netanyahu refuses to hold early elections.

The poll indicated that if elections were held today, “Netanyahu’s camp would get 48 seats, while the opposition camp would get 61 seats, and the Arab representatives would get 11 seats.” The majority of Israeli opposition parties refuse to cooperate with Arab parties to form an alternative government to Netanyahu’s government.

46% of respondents said, “If it is not possible to form a government without Netanyahu after the next elections, then the opposition parties must join a government that includes him,” while 37% of respondents believed that “Netanyahu should be boycotted even at the expense of running in another election,” and 17% do not know.

Haredi law

The results of the poll indicated that 43% of Israelis oppose the draft law on conscription drawn up by the government that grants exemptions to religious “Haredim” from military service, compared to 27% who support it and 30% who said they do not know.

The Haredim continue their protests against military service following the Supreme Court’s decision on June 25, 2024, obligating them to conscript and prohibiting the provision of financial aid to religious institutions whose students refuse to do so.

The “Haredim” constitute about 13% of Israel’s population of 10 million people, and they refuse military service under the pretext of devoting their lives to studying the Torah, stressing that integration into secular society constitutes a threat to their religious identity and the continuity of their society.

The voice of senior rabbis, whose statements are seen as a religious fatwa for the “Haredim,” calls for rejecting conscription, and even “tearing up” the summons orders.

The opposition accuses Netanyahu of seeking to pass a law that exempts the Haredim from conscription, in response to the demands of the Shas and United Torah Judaism parties, which withdrew earlier this year from the government, but are preparing to return as soon as a law that meets their demands is passed.

According to the same poll, 39% of Israelis supported dividing the powers of the government’s judicial advisor, Gali Behrav Meara, compared to 30% who said they opposed and 31% who had no opinion.

The Israeli government intends, according to what the official broadcasting authority recently reported, to present a draft law separating the position of the government’s legal advisor into two positions: the judicial advisor and the public prosecutor, in preparation for appointing a new public prosecutor who may reconsider the indictments in corruption cases against Netanyahu.