New Poll Shows Gadi Eisenkot Leading Netanyahu, Bloc Alignments Unchanged

A new Channel 12 poll, the first since party lists closed for the 26th Knesset elections, indicates that if elections were held today, Gadi Eisenkot's party, Yish, would be the largest with 25 mandates. This result mirrors a previous poll, showing no change in the overall bloc alignments, with the opposition bloc securing 68 mandates and the coalition bloc 52.

Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party garners 21 mandates, while Naftali Bennett's party, Yachad, receives 13. Yair Golan's Democrats weaken to 10 mandates, with Avigdor Lieberman's Yisrael Beiteinu strengthening to 9 mandates, apparently at the Democrats' expense. Other parties include Yahadut HaTorah with 8 mandates, the Joint List with 7, Shas with 7, and Religious Zionism and Identity with 5 mandates. Ofer Winter's Am Israel party also gains 5 mandates, while Ra'am secures 4. Parties like HaMiluimnikim and HaKalkalit HaHadasha are close to the electoral threshold with 2.9%, while Blue and White falls to 1.4% and the Haredi Public to 1%.

In head-to-head matchups for Prime Minister, Eisenkot leads Netanyahu 42% to 38%, narrowing the gap from the previous poll. Netanyahu, however, leads Bennett 40% to 37% and Lieberman 40% to 27%.

The poll also examined voting patterns. Itamar Ben-Gvir's Otzma Yehudit party is attracting significant support from former voters of the joint Religious Zionism-Otzma list and the Likud, with 18% of first-time voters choosing Otzma Yehudit, the largest share among all parties for this demographic. Ofer Winter's Am Israel party is drawing most of its support from former voters of the Religious Zionism-Otzma list and the Likud.

Turnout intentions are at 71%, an increase from the previous poll. Opposition voters show a higher intention to vote (82%) compared to coalition voters (75%).