New Poll Shows Netanyahu's Likud at Historic Low Ahead of Elections

A new poll conducted by Maariv indicates a significant shift in Israeli public opinion, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party falling to a historic low of 19 Knesset seats. This represents the party's worst performance since May 2025, according to the survey. Despite Likud's decline, the governing coalition bloc has seen a slight strengthening of its position.

If elections were held today, the centrist Yesh Atid party would emerge as the largest, securing 25 seats. Likud would follow with 19 seats, United Torah Judaism and Shas would each receive 7 seats, and the United Arab List would also gain 7 seats. Other parties projected to win seats include National Unity with 14, Democrats with 10, Yisrael Beiteinu with 9, Otzma Yehudit with 8, Ra'am with 5, Religious Zionism-Identity with 5, and Amcha Israel with 4.

Several parties, including the Reservists Party, Economic Party, Blue and White, and Noam LeIsrael, would fail to cross the electoral threshold. The poll also focused on the race for prime minister, showing Gadi Eisenkot leading Netanyahu with 50% of respondents viewing him as the suitable candidate for the role, compared to Netanyahu's 38%. Naftali Bennett also edges out Netanyahu, with 45% support versus 40% for the current premier.

The survey, conducted from September 9-10 among 601 adult respondents out of 4329 participants, with a margin of error of 4%, found that the proportion of undecided voters has decreased from 11% to 7.5% since candidate lists were finalized. The opposition bloc of Zionist parties collectively garnered 58 seats, while Arab parties secured 12.

Regarding national sentiment, 79% of respondents stated they would remain in Israel regardless of their party's inclusion in the next government, with 9% considering emigration and 12% undecided. This comes as 38 political factions have been approved to run in the Knesset elections scheduled for October 27.