New Poll Shows Netanyahu Gaining, Opposition Parties Slipping Ahead of Election

A new poll released by Kan News approximately one month before the upcoming elections indicates a shift in the political landscape. Gadi Eisenkot's "Yashr!" party, while remaining the largest, has dropped to 23 seats, losing one seat compared to the previous poll. Conversely, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party has gained one seat, rising to 21 seats. Naftali Bennett's "Bayit Yehudi" party is now the third-largest with 11 seats, continuing a downward trend and losing another seat. Yair Golan's "Democrats" and Avigdor Lieberman's "Yisrael Beiteinu" have each gained a seat, reaching nine seats. Itamar Ben-Gvir's "Otzma Yehudit" has lost a seat and now stands at seven. Ofer Winter's "Am Israel" party is projected to receive four seats. The poll suggests Netanyahu's bloc would secure 52 seats if elections were held today. Two new parties, "HaMeyumaniim" and "HaMiflaga HaKalkalit" led by Yoaz Hendel and Yaron Zelekha respectively, are projected to pass the electoral threshold with four seats each. Benny Gantz's "Blue and White," the ultra-Orthodox parties led by Moti Lightner, and Noam led by Avi Maoz are all projected to fall short of the threshold. The Likud's gain follows Netanyahu's speech at the UN General Assembly, though 71% of respondents stated the speech would not influence their vote. Regarding the disqualification of Arab parties by the Central Elections Committee, a majority of respondents support the move, with 55% backing the disqualification of the Joint List and 54% supporting the disqualification of Ra'am. However, a relative majority of "change bloc" voters opposed these disqualifications. A separate analysis of respondents from northern Israel shows a different picture, with Likud as the largest party (24 seats) and "Yashr!" at 20 seats. In this region, "Bayit Yehudi" gains to 14 seats, and "Otzma Yehudit" and "Yisrael Beiteinu" each gain one seat. "Am Israel" does not pass the threshold in the north, and the coalition bloc weakens to 49 seats. The poll was conducted by Kantar on September 27, 2026, with 552 respondents out of 2,118 invited, using internet sampling and including the Arab sector. The margin of error is plus or minus 4.2%. Yair Golan commented that an Arab party could be part of the next government.