Over half of the Israeli public supports a potential deal with Hamas that would secure the release of all hostages in exchange for a complete end to the war and the release of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails, a survey published by Israeli state broadcaster Kan News on Monday revealed.
The survey, conducted by the Kantar Institute under the direction of Dudi Hassid, showed that 56% of respondents support this kind of deal, while 22% of respondents opposed such a deal, and the remainder were undecided.
The poll also indicated slight shifts in party standings in the next election. Likud, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, gained one seat compared to the previous poll conducted in early April. National Unity, headed by Benny Gantz, and Yisrael Beytenu, chaired by Avigdor Liberman, each increased their support by one seat. Meanwhile, Yair Lapid’s Yesh Atid and Itamar Ben-Gvir’s Otzma Yehudit both lost ground.
Bezalel Smotrich’s Religious Zionist Party did not cross the electoral threshold, garnering only 2.8% of the vote. Balad also remained below the threshold with 1.6%.
The Democrats, a party led by Yair Golan, remained steady with 14 seats. Shas held firm at 10 seats, while United Torah Judaism retained its eight seats. Hadash-Ta’al and Ra’am both maintained their current standing with five seats each.
Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, recently appointed by Netanyahu to head the hostage negotiation team, received low marks in public confidence. Only 29% of respondents said they trust Dermer to lead the effort, while 41% expressed distrust. Thirty percent said they did not know.
Projected Knesset seat distribution
The survey results projected the following distribution of Knesset seats: Likud with 24 seats, up from 23; National Unity and Yisrael Beytenu with 16 seats each, both up from 15; the Democrats unchanged at 14; Yesh Atid with 13, down from 14; Shas steady at 10; Otzma Yehudit down to nine from 10; United Torah Judaism unchanged at eight; and both Hadash-Ta’al and Ra’am maintaining five seats.
The poll was conducted on April 20 and surveyed 602 Israeli citizens aged 18 and over. Respondents were selected from an online panel that included members of Arab society. A total of 2,271 people were invited to participate. The margin of error was ±4.0%.