A majority of Israelis oppose the permanent annexation of parts of the Gaza Strip, a move that the government has reportedly begun mulling amid the logjam in efforts to secure a hostage release and ceasefire deal with Hamas, a poll conducted for The Times of Israel found.
Among respondents to the poll, 53.2 percent rejected annexing parts of the Strip, while 38.9% support annexation and 7.9% had no opinion.
The survey also found that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party would win the most seats were elections held today, but it with its allied factions would fall far short of securing a majority coalition.
In the wake of the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, and throughout the war in Gaza, leaders on the far right have called for Israel to annex the territory and reestablish settlements there. Israel evacuated its settlements and troops from the enclave under the 2005 disengagement program.
In recent days, following the breakdown of negotiations for a ceasefire and hostage release deal, the cabinet has reportedly discussed annexation and threatened Hamas with taking such steps unless the terror group agrees to a deal to release the 50 hostages it is holding. Advocates of resettlement have also held gatherings to advance the prospect, attended by lawmakers from the coalition.
The survey was conducted on Wednesday by political consultant Yossi Tatika, owner of Tatika Research and Media, in collaboration with the Adgenda panel led by Roi Shindler. It had 404 Jewish and Arab respondents, and a margin of error of 4.8%.
The results of the survey contrasted with a poll published Wednesday by the right-leaning Israel Hayom daily, which found that 52% of Israelis support reestablishing settlements in Gaza. That reflected a jump from previous polls that have found majorities opposed to resettlement. It was not clear whether the survey included Arab Israelis, who are heavily opposed to Israel resettling Gaza.
Annexation of territory could be carried out by a government decision. To reverse such a decision, Israel’s quasi-constitutional Basic Laws require either a referendum or a decision supported by at least 80 Knesset members, making it difficult to undo.
Last week, the Knesset approved by a vote of 71-13 a nonbinding motion in favor of annexing the West Bank.
Wednesday’s survey found that if elections were held today, Likud would win the most seats, at 26, followed by former premier Naftali Bennett’s party — currently going by the placeholder name Naftali Bennett 2026 — which would secure 24 seats.
That represented a drop for both from The Times of Israel’s previous poll, taken two weeks ago, which had the parties at 30 and 26 seats, respectively.
Wednesday’s poll found the hawkish Yisrael Beytenu, led by Avigdor Liberman, and the left-wing Democrats, led by Yair Golan, would win 11 seats each.
The Sephardic ultra-Orthodox Shas party, led by Aryeh Deri, would win nine.
The centrist Yesh Atid, led by current Opposition Leader Yair Lapid, would win eight.
The Ashkenazi ultra-Orthodox party United Torah Judaism, led by Yitzhak Goldknopf, would win seven. So would the far-right Otzma Yehudit, led by National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir.
The center-right Blue and White, led by Benny Gantz, would win six.
Among the Arab parties, Islamist Ra’am would win six seats, Hadash-Ta’al would win five, and Balad would not cross the electoral threshold. Nor would the far-right Religious Zionism, led by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.
Altogether, the current coalition, including the ultra-Orthodox parties that recently left the government in protest, would win only 49 seats, far short of a 61-seat majority. The opposition parties, not counting the Arab factions, would also fall just short, at 60.