Poll Shows Eisenkot Overtaking Bennett for the First Time

A new Channel 12 poll published Thursday night shows Gadi Eisenkot’s Yashar party edging past Naftali Bennett’s Beyachad for the first time. Yashar rises to 21 seats, one more than in the previous survey, while Bennett’s party slips to 19. Likud remains steady at 22 seats, with Yair Golan’s Democrats in third place on 10.

Further down the list, Shas, Otzma Yehudit, and Yisrael Beytenu each receive 9 seats, United Torah Judaism gets 7, the Arab parties Hadash-Ta'al and Ra'am each get 5, and Religious Zionism stays above the threshold with 4. Parties below the threshold include the Reservists led by Yoaz Hendel at 1.9%, Balad led by Sami Abu Shehadeh at 1.7%, Blue and White led by Benny Gantz at 1.9%, and the new “Makom L’Kulanu” led by Rol Daoud and Alon-Lee Green at 0.2%.

The bloc map is unchanged from previous polls, with the opposition, including the Arab parties, at 69 seats and the coalition at 51. In a tested joint run, a Bennett-led list would win 34 seats, while an Eisenkot-led version would win 38. The survey also says Bennett’s leadership of a unity list would reduce the Change bloc to 57 seats.

In the race for preferred prime minister, Eisenkot again leads Benjamin Netanyahu, 39% to 35%, his best showing so far in this matchup. Netanyahu leads Bennett 37% to 35% and leads Avigdor Liberman 37% to 24%.

The poll found deep skepticism about President Donald Trump, with 71% saying they do not trust him to protect Israel’s interests in a final deal with Iran, compared with 13% who do. On Netanyahu’s handling of the U.S.-Iran understandings, 52% said it hurt Israel’s interests, 24% said it helped, and 24% said they did not know. Asked how the war with Iran ended, 43% said Israel lost, 41% said it ended without a decisive outcome, and only 11% said Israel won. Among opposition voters, 47% said Bennett should not end his partnership with Yair Lapid, while 28% said he should.