Poll Shows Eisenkot Overtaking Netanyahu as Bennett Holds Third Place

A new Time Israel seat poll published Thursday shows former IDF chief Gadi Eisenkot surging to first place. His party, Yashar!, becomes the largest in Israel for the first time in these surveys, with 23 seats, ahead of Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud on 21.

Naftali Bennett’s Yachad remains in third with 17 seats, followed by Yisrael Beytenu under Avigdor Lieberman on 11, Shas on 10, Otzma Yehudit led by Itamar Ben Gvir on 8, and United Torah Judaism on 7. On the left, The Democrats led by Yair Golan win 7 seats.

At the bottom of the poll, Hadash-Ta'al, Religious Zionism led by Bezalel Smotrich, Ra'am, and Benny Gantz’s Blue and White each receive 4 seats, just above the electoral threshold. The list also shows the Veterans party and Balad failing to pass the threshold, with 0 seats. The poll describes Blue and White as sinking to an unprecedented low.

In bloc terms, the Netanyahu camp, Likud, Shas, United Torah Judaism, Otzma Yehudit and Religious Zionism, reaches only 50 seats, while the anti-Netanyahu bloc climbs to 66. For the first time in this election cycle, the poll suggests a stable government could be formed without the current coalition parties and without relying on Arab parties. The so-called change bloc, Yashar!, Yachad, Yisrael Beytenu and The Democrats, totals 58 seats, and with Blue and White added it reaches 62, enough for a potential Zionist center-right-left coalition with or without Arab backing or abstention.