It is Clear Now that the Strike on Qatar was Politically Motivated

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the opening of the Knesset Museum, Jerusalem, August 11, 2025; illustrative.

(photo credit: YONATAN SINDEL/FLASH90)

Information published by the Jerusalem Post reveals that the Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu-led coalition bloc saw slight gains in a public opinion poll published by Maariv on Friday.

This was the first poll since the IDF conducted strikes on Hamas officials in Qatar, shortly after a Jerusalem terror attack killed six, and the deaths of four IDF soldiers in Gaza.

The poll found that the coalition bloc strengthened by 2 seats to a total of 50, compared to 60 seats for the opposition bloc. The Arab parties took the remaining 10 seats.

The poll noted that smaller parties are making the difference, as Benny Gantz's Blue and White party dropped below the electoral threshold, while Bezalel Smotrich's Religious Zionist Party (RZP) passed the threshold.

This meant that while a hypothetical party led by Gantz's former ally, Gadi Eisenkot, strengthened its position from three seats to nine, the gains were offset by Blue and White's failure.

Gadi Eisenkot holds a press conference after announcing his resignation in Tel Aviv, July 1, 2025; illustrative. (credit: ERIK MARMOR/FLASH90)

The poll, which presumed that two new parties, one led by former prime minister Naftali Bennett, and the other by Eisenkot, would run, with no other party changes, found that an election would result in Likud remaining the largest single party with 24 mandates, Bennett's party would reach 23 mandates, Yair Golan's Democrats would receive 11, Avigdor Liberman's Yisrael Beytenu, 10, Eisenkot's party would receive nine, Shas would receive eight, Yair Lapid's Yesh Atid, Itamar Ben-Gvir's Otzma Yehudit, and United Torah Judaism, would each receive seven, RZP would receive four, and the Arab parties, Ra'am (United Arab List) and Hadash-Ta'al, would each receive five.

In the event that former Mossad chief Yossi Cohen were to launch a party, and the previously announced IDF Reservists' party led by Yoaz Hendel were also to run, then the balance of power would shift notably in the opposition bloc's favor.

In this scenario, the poll found that Blue and White, RZP, and Yossi Cohen's party would not pass the electoral threshold. The IDF Reservists' party would receive five mandates, pushing the opposition bloc to a total of 64, as compared to 46 for the coalition parties.

The poll also asked participants if they support the decision to strike Hamas in Doha. The survey found that a supermajority of 75% of Israelis support the action, just under half, at 49% justified the action and its timing, while 26% supported the strike, but questioned the timing. 11% opposed the strikes entirely, and 14% said they were unsure.

Advertisement

In addition, the survey queried opinions on whether the strikes are likely to affect the chances of reaching a deal to release the remaining 48 hostages from Hamas's terror captivity in the Gaza Strip. The poll found that 38% said it harms the likelihood of a potential deal, 37% said it would help to achieve a deal, and 25% were unsure.

The survey was conducted by Lazar Research led by Dr. Menachem Lazar, in collaboration with Panel4All on September 10-11, and included 506 respondents, representing a representative sample of the adult population in Israel, aged 18 and older, both Jews and Arabs. The maximum sampling error in the survey is 4.4%.