A Friday poll showed that 52% of Israelis oppose Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu—who is wanted by the International Criminal Court—running in the upcoming 2026 elections.
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According to the poll published by Israel’s private Channel 12, 41% of Israelis believe Netanyahu should participate in the next elections, while 7% of respondents refrained from taking a position on his candidacy. Netanyahu announced about a week ago his intention to run in the next elections.
The survey indicated that half of the right-wing camp supporters do not know who could succeed Netanyahu in leading the camp if he decides not to run. The channel did not disclose the organization that conducted the poll or provide further details about the results or other questions asked.
Earlier on Friday, another poll published by Maariv revealed a decline of two seats for Netanyahu’s coalition in the Knesset compared to last week, bringing it to 50 seats if elections were held today.
Under Israeli law, forming a government requires the support of at least 61 members of the 120-seat Knesset.
The poll results showed that despite the coalition’s weakness, the opposition bloc would gain 59 seats, falling short of a majority, while Arab parties would win 11 seats. Opposition parties have stated they refuse to enter any alliance with Arab parties to form a government.
Last week, the official Israeli Broadcasting Corporation reported that Netanyahu is planning to move the general elections forward to June 2026 instead of November 3 of the same year, though no official announcement has been made. In Israel, the government, upon the Prime Minister’s recommendation, can dissolve the Knesset and call early elections, a decision that also requires the approval of the President.
Netanyahu has served as Prime Minister for five non-consecutive terms, making him the longest-serving in Israel’s history, despite facing multiple corruption cases over the years. In addition to his local trial, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant against him on November 21, 2024, for charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
