Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's electoral prospects were unharmed by the recent decision to indict him on four corruption counts, a new Israel Hayom poll shows.
The poll, conducted by the Maagar Mochot polling institute, shows that Likud under Netanyahu would garner 33 seats if a new Knesset election were called (up from its current 32), indicating that voters were unmoved by Attorney General Avichai Mendelblit's decision to indict Netanyahu in three corruption cases following years of investigations.
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Some 43% of respondents said that Netanyahu should step down because of the indictment, but 12% said he should only temporarily hand over responsibilities. Some 35% said he should be allowed to continue serving as prime minister.
Under Israeli law, a prime minister must resign only if he is convicted and only after the appeals process has been exhausted. However, court precedent stipulates that ministers must resign once they are indicted. It is unclear whether that precedent applies to Netanyahu.
The poll also shows that if Likud were to replace Netanyahu by his chief challenger within Likud, MK Gideon Sa'ar, this would actually result in Likud dropping to 28 seats, despite Sa'ar's claim that Netanyahu's departure would help the party.
In both cases, Likud would not be able to form a right-wing government because Yisrael Beytenu has refused to sit with the haredi parties.
According to the poll, some 88% of Likud voters would prefer that Netanyahu remain Likud chairman, with only 8% saying Sa'ar would be their preferred choice in a party leadership race.
Netanyahu still has an edge when it comes to which party leader is more fit to serve as prime minister. Some 45% of respondents said he was most qualified, compared with 39% who said Blue and White leader Benny Gantz.
The poll was carried out among 501 respondents comprising a representative sample of the adult population in Israel. The margin of error stands at 4.4 percentage points.
