Latest polls show Netanyahu & Likud party soaring in approval after return of hostages

Following the return of all living hostages and several hostage bodies since last weekend, the latest opinion polls in Israel show Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his Likud party soaring to heights not seen for a long time.

According to the latest survey by Direct Polls, conducted by Shlomo Filber and published by Israel’s Channel 14 News, Netanyahu’s personal approval ratings jumped to their highest point since the elections in November 2022.

Asked about personal suitability as prime minister, 58% of Israelis said they favored Netanyahu; former prime minister Naftali Bennett garnered 22%; while former War Cabinet minister and former IDF chief, Gadi Eisenkot, received 11%; opposition leader Yair Lapid and Yisrael Beiteinu party leader, Avigdor Liberman, received 4%; and only 1% favored the Blue and White Party head Benny Gantz.

If elections were held in Israel today, Netanyahu’s current coalition would win two more seats than in the last election, rising to 66 seats with a comfortable majority in the 120-seat Knesset.

The opposition parties would win 43 seats, and the Arab parties 11 seats.

The Likud would again be the largest party with 35 seats; Bennett’s yet-unnamed party would win 13 seats; while Lapid’s Yesh Atid would receive four seats, narrowly passing the election hurdle.

The poll was conducted on Oct. 15, 2025, with 486 participants representing the entire population.

Israeli polling results generally reflect the political bias of the news channel that publishes them, showing worse results for the right-wing government, the stronger it leans toward the left.

A great result for the coalition on Channel 14, whose anchors have vocally supported the government, is no surprise; however, polls published by other news outlets echoed the government’s rise in popularity.

Even a poll by Channel 12 – whose evening news program draws the country’s largest audience and is generally viewed as left-leaning – found that Likud would win new elections with 27 seats.

However, this poll also predicted that both coalition and opposition blocs would fall short of the required 61 seats to form a new government.

The bloc led by Netanyahu would receive 51 seats, led by his Likud party (27), as well as Shas (9), Jewish Power (8), and United Torah Judaism (7). In this poll, Bezalel Smotrich’s Religious Zionism party would fall short of the threshold.

Furthermore, a bloc led by Bennett would receive 59 mandates, and would include Bennett’s new platform (22), The Democrats party (11), Yesh Atid (9), Yisrael Beitenu (9), and Gadi Eisenkot’s Yashar party (8).

In this scenario, Benny Gantz’s Blue and White, Yoaz Hendel’s HaMiluimnikim party (The Reservists), and the Palestinian nationalist party, Balad, would all fail to cross the threshold.

Another poll published by The Times of Israel’s Hebrew sister site, Zman Yisrael, predicted Netanyahu’s Likud would win 34 seats, its strongest result since the Hamas invasion on Oct. 7, 2023.

Zman Yisrael’s survey also predicted that both blocs would fail to gain a governing majority.