Channel 14 Analyst Predicts Likud Will Win 32-35 Knesset Seats

Channel 14 political commentator Yaakov Bardugo has estimated that the Likud party will secure between 32 and 35 Knesset seats in the upcoming elections. This projection comes as the deadline for party list submissions approaches next Tuesday. Bardugo's forecast is more optimistic than recent polls from Channel 14 itself, which placed Likud at 31 seats, and significantly higher than surveys from other networks showing Likud between 20 and 24 seats.

A Channel 14 poll released last Sunday indicated that the right-wing bloc would maintain a majority of 63 seats, with Likud as the largest party at 31. However, the same poll showed Gadi Eisenkot's "Yisrael Beiteinu" party strengthening to 24 seats. In contrast, polls from other networks suggest Eisenkot's party could overtake Likud as the largest party.

With party registrations closing next week, Prime Minister Netanyahu will have a clearer picture of which parties he needs to compete against and which he might support. In a recent development, Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich announced their parties would unite, a move seen as beneficial for the Religious Zionism party, which had been hovering around the electoral threshold.