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Gadi Eisenkot’s Yashar party is leading Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud ahead of Israel’s October 27 election, according to an opinion poll published by Channel 13 on Wednesday.
The survey showed Yashar winning 22 seats in the 120-member Knesset, compared with 18 for Likud. Eisenkot was also preferred as prime minister by 48% of respondents, while 36% chose Netanyahu and 16% said they were undecided.
Coalition blocs remain short of a majority
The governing coalition bloc was projected to win 51 seats, while opposition parties were placed on 52. Arab parties were expected to secure 13 seats collectively, and an alliance led by Yoaz Hendel and Yaron Zelekha was projected to win four.
A government requires the support of at least 61 members of the Knesset to form a majority.
Naftali Bennett’s Beyachad (Together) and Yair Golan’s Democrats were each projected to receive 11 seats. The Joint Arab List, Avigdor Lieberman’s Yisrael Beiteinu and United Torah Judaism were each assigned eight seats.
Itamar Ben-Gvir’s Otzma Yehudit and Shas were each projected to win seven seats, while the Religious Zionism alliance led by Bezalel Smotrich and Moshe Feiglin was given six.
Several parties risk failing to enter parliament
Ofer Winter’s Amcha Yisrael and the United Arab List, or Ra’am, were each projected to win five seats. The Hendel-Zelekha alliance was shown crossing the electoral threshold with four seats.
The Haredi Public party and Benny Gantz’s Blue and White were projected to fall short of entering parliament. Blue and White received less than 1% support in the survey.
Asked about their preferred composition of the next government, 31% of respondents backed a broad unity government, 29% preferred an entirely right-wing administration and 25% favoured a government formed by opposition parties. The remainder selected other options or said they did not know.
The poll surveyed 1,503 people and had a margin of error of 2.5 percentage points.
Netanyahu has led Israel’s current government since late December 2022. He is on trial on corruption charges, which he denies. The International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for him in November 2024 over alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
