Jerusalem / Anadolu

An Israeli opinion poll showed that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's camp and the opposition would not be able to form a government alone if Knesset elections were held today, as each would remain below the 61-seat threshold needed to gain confidence.

According to the poll results published by Maariv on Friday, Netanyahu's camp gets 50 seats out of 120, compared to 59 for the Jewish opposition and 11 for Arab lists.

Any government in Israel needs the support of at least 61 Knesset members, while most Jewish opposition leaders say they do not intend to rely on Arab lawmakers' support to form a government, as Arab lists condition their support on demands.

Thus, neither Netanyahu's camp nor the Jewish opposition has a sufficient parliamentary majority to form a government alone, signaling a continued political deadlock if elections were held with these results.

Netanyahu's Likud party won 21 seats, while Jewish Power led by National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir got 8 seats, and the religious parties Shas and United Torah Judaism each got 8 seats, compared to 5 seats for Religious Zionism led by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.

In the opposition camp, Yashar party led by former Israeli Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot won 20 seats, Yamina party led by former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett won 19, Yisrael Beitenu led by Avigdor Lieberman won 10, and the Democrats led by Yair Golan won 10 seats.

As for the Arab lists, the Democratic Front for Peace and Equality and Arab Change alliance won 6 seats, and the United Arab List led by Mansour Abbas won 5 seats.

Maariv said Netanyahu's coalition remained at 50 seats, while the Jewish opposition dropped by one seat to 59, and Arab party representation rose to 11 seats.

The poll showed that 74% of participants confirmed they would vote in the next Knesset elections, while 17% said they would probably vote, compared to 3% who do not intend to vote and 6% who have not decided.

It also showed that 62% of participants rule out the formation of a government including parties from both camps after the elections, with 35% saying the likelihood is low and 27% saying it is impossible, compared to 14% who think the chances are good.

The newspaper said the poll was conducted by the private Lazar Institute on a random sample of 606 Israelis, with a margin of error of 4%.

The current Knesset term ends in October next, when general elections are scheduled.