A new Israel Hayom, Kantar poll, edited by Dudi Hassid and published Thursday, says the right-wing bloc remains stable despite weeks of political and diplomatic turmoil. If elections were held now, Likud would stay the largest party with 24 seats, while Gadi Eisenkot and his Yashar! party would widen their lead over Naftali Bennett and his BeYachad party to five seats, 21 to 16.
Other results put The Democrats at 10 seats, Yisrael Beiteinu and Otzma Yehudit at 9 each, Shas and United Torah Judaism at 8 each, Hadash-Ta'al at 7, and Ra'am and Religious Zionism at 4 each. In bloc terms, Netanyahu's camp stands at 53 seats and the opposition bloc at 56, with the Arab parties Ra'am and Hadash-Ta'al holding the remaining 11 seats.
The poll also tested a new unity list of Benny Gantz, Yoaz Hendel and Dadi Shmhi, which would win 7 seats. In that scenario, Bennett drops to 15, Eisenkot to 19, Yisrael Beiteinu to 7, and Likud to 23, leaving Netanyahu's bloc and the wider opposition tied at 51 seats each. The Arab parties remain at 11, and Gantz's list becomes the decisive swing faction. A second scenario gave Brig. Gen. (res.) Ofer Winter, running alone, 5 seats, mainly at the expense of Likud, Ben Gvir and Smotrich, with Religious Zionism at risk of falling below the electoral threshold.
On who should lead a new right-wing party, 16% of the full sample and 35% of right-wing voters chose Winter, ahead of Gilad Erdan at 15%, Yuli Edelstein at 10% and Ayelet Shaked at 7%. The survey also found 66% oppose the emerging deal between Netanyahu and the ultra-Orthodox, while among likely coalition voters support is 40% and opposition 36%.
If the opposition cannot reach 61 seats, its voters prefer Ra'am as a coalition partner, at 41%, over a repeat election at 28% and the inclusion of the ultra-Orthodox at 11%. Among right-leaning opposition voters, 33% prefer new elections and 19% back Ra'am, while left-wing opposition voters favor Ra'am by 56%. On the crisis with U.S. President Donald Trump, 34% overall say Netanyahu is handling it well, rising to 69% among coalition supporters and falling to 14% among opposition voters. Asked who would handle it best, opposition voters slightly favor Bennett over Eisenkot, 30% to 27%, while 19% say none of the candidates would do well; across the full sample, Bennett and Eisenkot are tied at 16% each.
