Ben-Gvir's Party Rises in Polls as Netanyahu Slips Ahead of Israel's Oct. 27 Election
Polls show Otzma Yehudit growing from six seats to as many as nine, while the opposition bloc led by former IDF chief Gadi Eisenkot gains on the prime minister.
By Watchman Report staff ·
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and most of his coalition partners appear to be losing support heading into Israel's first election since Oct. 7, with one exception, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency reported in The Jerusalem Post. Otzma Yehudit, led by National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, is projected in polls published this week to grow from its current six seats to as many as nine, even as Netanyahu's bloc loses votes to the opposition led by former IDF chief Gadi Eisenkot.
On a campaign stop in the mixed Jewish-Arab city of Ramla on Oct. 14, Ben-Gvir was greeted by cheering supporters and teenage boys chanting "Here comes the next defense minister," a post he is seeking. "He does what he says he will do," one supporter said. Other residents, Jewish and Arab, were angry. "Because of him there is no peace in this country," one Jewish resident said. Ben-Gvir has been condemned in Israel and abroad for calling for the expulsion of Gazans and for language about Palestinians that critics call dehumanizing. Bar-Ilan University political scientist Liron Lavie said he has positioned himself as a right-wing alternative to Netanyahu.
On Sept. 26, five opposition leaders, Yair Lapid, Naftali Bennett, Eisenkot, Yair Golan and Avigdor Liberman, signed a non-aggression pact aimed at unseating Netanyahu, Al Jazeera reported. This week Eisenkot, whose son was killed in Gaza, pledged to resolve the Hamas issue within 18 months, working with President Trump's Peace Council but ready to act militarily if Hamas stays in power, Il Foglio reported.
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