New Political Alliance Boosts Netanyahu Bloc to 51 Seats in Poll

A new political alliance between Bezalel Smotrich and Moshe Feiglin has successfully passed the electoral threshold, securing 5 Knesset seats, according to a Maariv poll conducted by Lazar Research. The unified list, along with the "Amcha Israel" list which garnered 4 seats, strengthens the Netanyahu coalition to 51 mandates for the first time since May. This development causes the opposition Zionist bloc to decrease by 2 seats to 57, with the "Yashar!" list losing two mandates and moving further from the 61 needed for a majority. Arab parties also saw a slight decline, with the United Arab List dropping to 7 seats, bringing the total for Arab parties to 12 mandates. Despite these gains, the parties remain in a precarious position regarding the electoral threshold. The poll also indicated that parties failing to pass the threshold collectively represent 6.7% of the vote, equivalent to approximately 8 seats. These include the Reserve Soldiers' Zionist Home (2.1%), the Economic Party (1.7%), HaAchdut (1.1%), Makom LeKulanu Jewish-Arab Partnership (0.7%), Blue and White (0.6%), and the Haredi Public (0.4%).