Netanyahu's Popularity Further Declines

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife, Sara (File/Reuters)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife, Sara (File/Reuters)
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Netanyahu's Popularity Further Declines

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife, Sara (File/Reuters)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife, Sara (File/Reuters)

The coalition of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lost three seats it earned during the past three weeks, including two seats earned last week and one seat this week, according to this week’s Maariv poll.
In return, the Israeli opposition made a slight advancement, which indicates that if elections were to be held today, Netanyahu is far from securing the needed seats to form a government.
The Religious Zionist Party, New Hope-United Right led by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich remained below the electoral threshold of 3.25%, scoring only 1.6%.
After survey respondents were asked for whom they would vote if new Knesset elections were held today, Netanyahu’s Likud and the rest of the ruling coalition parties emerged with a combined 48 seats, one fewer than last week. The coalition has 64 seats and therefore needs at least 13 more seats to form a government.
In return, the opposition earned 72 seats, including 10 for Arab parties.
The poll also revealed that a party led by Naftali Bennett has weakened by one seat this week, now standing at 24, still three more seats ahead of Likud's 21.
The opposition bloc lost one seat this week but still retained a majority of 65 seats, without the Arab parties, which gained one seat this week.
In this scenario, the government of Netanyahu will definitely not remain in power.
The polling, published by Maariv every Friday, is done by “Lazar Research” and conducted in collaboration with Panel4All.
After survey respondents were asked for whom they would vote if new Knesset elections were held today, Netanyahu’s Likud emerged with 23 seats (lost one third of its current 32 seats), National Unity, 20 (currently 8), Yesh Atid, 16 (currently 24), Yisrael Beiteinu, 15 (currently 6), The Democrats, 11 (currently four), Shas, 10 (currently 10), Otzma Yehudit, 8 (currently 6), United Torah Judaism, 7 (currently 7), Hadash-Ta’al, 6 (6), and Ra’am 4.
In this scenario, Netanyahu's coalition would gain 48 seats, and the opposition bloc would gain 72 seats, including 10 seats for Arab parties.
Meanwhile, a majority of the Israeli public (52%) opposes the judicial reform being reintroduced by Justice Minister Yariv Levin, 35% support it, and 13% are undecided.
Politically, most coalition voters (72%) support the reform, while opposition voters (85%) are strongly opposed to it.



Defense Minister: Israel Will Strike Iran Again if Threatened

FILED - 25 June 2024, Israel, Jerusalem: Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz is pictured in Jerusalem. Photo: Hannes P Albert/dpa
FILED - 25 June 2024, Israel, Jerusalem: Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz is pictured in Jerusalem. Photo: Hannes P Albert/dpa
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Defense Minister: Israel Will Strike Iran Again if Threatened

FILED - 25 June 2024, Israel, Jerusalem: Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz is pictured in Jerusalem. Photo: Hannes P Albert/dpa
FILED - 25 June 2024, Israel, Jerusalem: Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz is pictured in Jerusalem. Photo: Hannes P Albert/dpa

Israel will strike Iran again if it is threatened by Tehran, Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Thursday.

"Israel's long arm will reach you in Tehran, Tabriz, Isfahan, and anywhere you try to threaten or harm Israel. There is no place where you can hide. If we must go back, we will go back and with greater force," Katz said in remarks released by his office.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday said he does not believe Iran will pursue a nuclear program following the strikes levied by both US and Israel last month.

"They're afraid," Netanyahu told FOX Business. "They know they felt the might – the might of America, the might of Israel and the combined might of Israel and America."

"It's made an impact, not only in the Middle East, it's made an impact around the world. Everybody sees this," he added.

Netanyahu also said: "I think the Iranians understand that what the US and Israel did once, we could do twice and thrice."

The Israeli leader acknowledged that Tehran could attempt to redevelop its program and that the US and Israeli must treat the issue as a "cancer" that needs to be continually monitored.

Netanyahu also said that he doesn’t believe Iran maintains the capability to build a nuclear weapon, even if Tehran moved some highly enriched uranium from the top nuclear site, due to the damage inflicted on other elements of its atomic weapons program.

"Enriched uranium is not enough to make atomic bombs. Okay, it's a necessary component, but it's not sufficient," he said.