Israeli opposition needs Arab lawmakers to form government as majority oppose their participation: Poll

Israel's Jewish opposition would need the support of Arab lawmakers to form an alternative government to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's, while a majority of Israelis oppose Arab parties joining the next government, according to a poll published Friday.

Poll results indicate that neither Netanyahu's bloc nor the Jewish opposition would be able to form a government on its own in the election scheduled for 17 days from now.

Such a scenario could lead to another election several months later, an option Netanyahu may prefer if he fails to form a government.

A poll published by the Israeli newspaper Maariv showed that, if elections were held today, Netanyahu's bloc and the Jewish opposition would each win 52 seats in the 120-member Knesset.

Arab parties would secure 12 seats, while the Reserve Party, led by Yoaz Hendel, would win four without having declared which bloc it would support.

A government requires the support of at least 61 lawmakers in the 120-seat Knesset.

Most leaders of the Jewish opposition parties have rejected cooperation with Arab lawmakers to form an alternative government to replace Netanyahu's.

- Seat distribution

According to the poll, Netanyahu's 52-seat bloc would comprise his Likud party with 20 seats, Itamar Ben-Gvir's Jewish Power with eight, United Torah Judaism and Shas with seven each, Bezalel Smotrich's Religious Zionism with six and Ofer Winter's Amcha Israel with four.

The Jewish opposition's 52 seats would be divided among Gadi Eisenkot's Yashar party with 21, Naftali Bennett's Together party with 13, Yair Golan's Democrats with nine and Avigdor Liberman's Yisrael Beiteinu with nine.

Arab parties would win 12 seats, with the Joint List led by Yusuf Jabareen taking seven and Mansour Abbas' United Arab List securing five.

Hendel's Reserve Party would take four seats without committing to either bloc.

The results indicate that support from Arab parties could enable the Jewish opposition to form a government in the event of a continued tie between the two main blocs.

- Majority oppose Arab parties joining government

The poll found that 59% of Israelis oppose an Arab party joining the government after the election, compared with 36% who support such participation, while 5% said they did not know.

By comparison, 53% supported the participation of an ultra-Orthodox Haredi party in the next government, while 41% opposed it and 6% were undecided.

- Preferred prime minister

In a direct contest between Netanyahu and former Israeli army chief Gadi Eisenkot, 46% said they preferred Eisenkot as prime minister, compared with 40% for Netanyahu, while 14% gave no clear answer.

Israel's prime minister is not directly elected but is the person able to form a government backed by at least 61 lawmakers.

When respondents were asked to choose among several candidates for prime minister, Netanyahu received 38%, followed by Eisenkot with 24% and Bennett with 14%. All other candidates received less than 10% each.

Maariv said the poll was conducted by the private Lazar Research Institute among a random sample of 700 Israelis, with a margin of error of 3.7 percentage points.