Large share of Israelis prefer holding new elections if no coalition formed, IDI survey shows

An IDI survey released Friday finds that 37% of Jewish Israelis and 46% of Arab Israelis prefer new elections if no coalition is formed after the October 27 Knesset election. Gadi Eisenkot is the most acceptable prime ministerial candidate across both demographics, while Benjamin Netanyahu is the least acceptable for Arab Israelis. The survey also shows support for automatically appointing the largest party leader as prime minister.

A new survey by the Israel Democracy Institute, released on Friday, shows that a plurality of Israelis would prefer to hold new elections if a coalition cannot be formed after the upcoming Knesset election. Among Jewish Israelis, 37% favored new elections, while 46% of Arab Israelis held that view. Only 25% of Jews and 23% of Arabs preferred a minority government, and 23% of Jews and 9% of Arabs supported a unity government with rotation. If a coalition is formed, 37% of Jewish respondents want a broad coalition of Zionist parties without Haredi parties, while 71% of Arab Israelis favor a Center-Left coalition with Arab party support. On candidates, Yashar party head Gadi Eisenkot was the most acceptable across both demographics, with 56% of Jews and 55% of Arabs finding it easy to accept him as prime minister. Current Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was the least acceptable for Arab Israelis, with 84% finding him hard to accept. The survey also found that 63% of Jews and 51% of Arabs support automatically appointing the leader of the largest party as prime minister to increase stability. Israelis are approaching the October 27 election with cautious optimism, with only 19% agreeing that the situation will not change regardless of who wins.