Poll finds 62% of ‘Israelis’ doubt Netanyahu’s “total victory” promise in Gaza

A Hebrew Channel 12 survey conducted ahead of ‘Israel’s’ October 27 elections has found that a clear majority of ‘Israelis’ doubt Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s long-standing pledge of “total victory” over Hamas in Gaza.

According to the poll, 62 percent of respondents do not believe ‘Israel’ will ever achieve that outcome, while only 25 percent think it will.

The survey, carried out by the Midgam institute with 503 respondents and a 4.4 percent margin of error, also points to a continued political deadlock.

It projects Netanyahu’s right-wing bloc winning 50 seats in the 120-member Knesset, while the combined Zionist opposition parties secure 56 seats.

A small centrist list, tentatively named Zionist Home and led by Chili Tropper and Yoaz Hendel, is projected at four seats; if it joins an anti-Netanyahu coalition, the opposition would reach 60 seats—just short of a majority.

The mainly Arab parties Ra’am and Hadash-Ta’al are each allocated five seats.

In the detailed party breakdown, Likud and Gadi Eisenkot’s Yashar party are tied at 23 seats each.

Naftali Bennett’s Together list follows with 14 seats, the Democrats with 10, Yisrael Beytenu with nine, United Torah Judaism with eight, Shas and Otzma Yehudit with seven each, and Religious Zionism with five.

These figures align broadly with other recent polls showing neither side with a clear path to forming a stable government.

On the question of preferred prime minister, Netanyahu and Eisenkot are locked in a statistical dead heat, each favored by 37 percent of respondents.

Netanyahu holds a similarly narrow edge over Bennett, 38 percent to 37 percent.

Beyond the “total victory” question, the poll reveals deep skepticism about the broader results of nearly three years of war.

Sixty-two percent of respondents do not believe Netanyahu has “led Israel to victory after three years of war,” compared with 28 percent who do.

Large majorities also reject the possibility that Hamas or Hezbollah will ever agree to disarm—72 percent versus 18 percent regarding Hamas, and 63 percent versus 23 percent regarding Hezbollah.

Views on Iran are more divided.

Thirty-five percent of those surveyed believe the Iranian threat has lessened as a result of ‘Israeli’ policy, 28 percent see it as unchanged, and 27 percent think it has grown.

A narrow majority of 51 percent favors renewing military action against Iran, while 34 percent oppose it.

Defense Minister Israel Katz fares poorly in the poll: 57 percent rate his performance as “bad,” against 34 percent who call it “good.”