A new Channel 11 News poll released Thursday night shows a major shake-up in Israel’s political balance, led by a sharp change inside the anti-Netanyahu camp. MK Gadi Eisenkot and his party Yashar! become, for the first time, the largest party in that bloc, overtaking Naftali Bennett’s Yachad and opening a four-seat gap. After months in which Bennett led the opposition camp comfortably, the poll now shows the reverse.
Eisenkot records his best result yet in Channel 11 polls and is only two seats behind Likud, while Bennett and Yachad post their weakest showing since he announced his political comeback. Likud, led by Benjamin Netanyahu, falls to 23 seats, its lowest level in months in the channel’s polling. That leaves the current coalition bloc on 52 seats, one fewer than before.
The full seat count has Likud on 23, Yashar! on 21, Yachad on 17, Yisrael Beytenu on 10, The Democrats on 9, Otzma Yehudit on 9, Shas on 9, United Torah Judaism on 7, Hadash-Ta’al on 7, the Religious Zionism party on 4, and Ra’am on 4. The Military Reservists party and Blue and White do not cross the electoral threshold. In bloc terms, Netanyahu’s camp stands at 52 seats, the anti-Netanyahu bloc at 57, and the Arab parties at 11.
The poll also tested a scenario in which all Arab parties run on one joint list. In that case the unified list gets 12 seats, and Netanyahu’s bloc drops to 51 seats. On who should lead the opposition, Eisenkot leads with 32 percent, Bennett gets 22 percent, and 31 percent say neither should lead.
Despite Likud’s decline, Netanyahu still leads the race for prime minister against both top opposition figures. Against Bennett, Netanyahu is seen as more fit for the job by 42 percent to 31 percent, while 27 percent say neither is suitable. Against Eisenkot, Netanyahu leads 41 percent to 33 percent, with 26 percent saying neither is fit.
