A Maariv poll released Friday shows Gadi Eizenkot’s Yashar! reaching a new high of 21 seats, up one from the previous survey and now tied with Likud, which also falls by one. Naftali Bennett’s Beyachad drops one seat to 20, putting Eizenkot ahead of him for the first time in the poll’s current standings.
In the bloc count, the opposition camp excluding the Arab parties rises by one seat to 61, a bare majority, while the Arab parties remain steady at 10. Benjamin Netanyahu’s governing coalition loses one seat and falls to 49.
The poll also tested a joint list of Bennett and Eizenkot. If Bennett headed the merged slate, it would win 34 seats, seven fewer than their separate totals, but the opposition bloc would lose its majority and drop to 59 seats, compared with 51 for Netanyahu’s coalition. In that scenario, the Democrats would rise to 13 seats, Yisrael Beytenu to 12, and Likud would gain to 23. If Eizenkot led the combined list, it would get 37 seats, four fewer than the parties win separately, and three more than under Bennett’s leadership. That version would leave the opposition with 60 seats, the coalition with 50, and the Arab parties with 10.
The survey also found concern in Israel over the rift between Netanyahu and U.S. President Donald Trump. Forty-nine percent said they are worried, 43% said they are not, and 8% did not know. Among opposition voters, 61% expressed concern, while 63% of coalition voters said they were not worried. On the reported international developments around the Iran deal, 63% of Israelis said they fear for Israel’s future, 31% said they do not, and 6% were unsure. The poll was conducted for Maariv by Lazar Research, led by Dr. Menachem Lazar, together with the Panel4All internet panel.
