WorldPosted at: Oct 16 2026 8:52PM


Israeli opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot’s Yashar party obtains lead over Netanyahu’s Likud, polls show

Jerusalem, Oct 16 (UNI) As Israel’s Knesset elections draw near, opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot’s Yashar party has widened its lead over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud, although neither camp is projected to secure a parliamentary majority, according to a new poll published by Zman Yisrael.
The survey projected 26 seats for Yashar against 20 for Likud, widening the gap from four seats in the previous poll to six.
The opposition bloc of Jewish-led parties was projected to win 54 seats in the 120-member Knesset, compared with 49 for Netanyahu’s allies. Arab parties were projected to secure 13 seats, while the non-aligned Reservists party was expected to win four. A majority requires 61 seats.
The poll also showed Ofer Winter’s right-wing People of Israel party falling below the 3.25% electoral threshold, with 2.8% support. The centrist Blue and White party, led by Benny Gantz, was projected to receive 1.2%, also below the threshold.
Netanyahu’s Likud and its allies have been pressuring smaller right-wing parties to withdraw from the election, fearing that parties failing to enter the Knesset could divide the right-wing vote and cost the prime minister’s bloc seats.
Former prime minister Naftali Bennett’s opposition B’Yachad party was projected to win 11 seats, followed by the hawkish opposition Yisrael Beytenu with nine.
Four parties were projected to secure eight seats each: the pro-Netanyahu ultra-Orthodox parties Shas and United Torah Judaism, the left-wing Democrats, and the Arab-led Joint List. The far-right, pro-Netanyahu Otzma Yehudit was projected to win seven seats, followed by Religious Zionism with six. The Arab-led Ra’am party was expected to secure five seats.
The survey was conducted by Yossi Tatika of Tatika Research & Media in collaboration with the Adgenda panel. It covered 500 respondents and had a margin of error of ±4.4%.
A Channel 13 poll published a day earlier also indicated weakening support for Netanyahu’s bloc, although it gave the prime minister’s allies a narrow lead over the opposition.
That survey projected 51 seats for Netanyahu’s bloc and 50 for Eisenkot’s camp, with the Joint List, Ra’am and the Reservists accounting for the remaining 19 seats.
Yashar was again the largest party, with 20 seats, followed by Likud with 18. Bennett’s B’Yachad was projected to win 12 seats, while Yisrael Beytenu, the Democrats and the Joint List were each projected to receive nine.
Otzma Yehudit and United Torah Judaism were projected to win eight seats apiece, Shas and Ra’am six each, and Religious Zionism four. People of Israel and the Reservists were also projected to win four seats each.
The Channel 13 survey was conducted by pollsters Shmuel Rosner and Noah Slepkov of Madad and included 1,018 respondents, with a margin of error of 3.1%.
Israeli election polls are published frequently in the run-up to voting and can fluctuate between surveys. The latest results point to a continued parliamentary deadlock, with neither major political bloc reaching the 61 seats required for a majority.
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