New Poll Shows Eisenkot Bloc Ahead of Netanyahu, Joint List Gains 9 Seats
Translated & summarized from Arab48 by baba
A new Israeli public opinion poll shows Gadi Eisenkot's bloc leading Benjamin Netanyahu's bloc by two seats, with the Joint Arab List projected to win 9 seats. The poll indicates Eisenkot's 'Yashar' party would receive 24 seats if elections were held today, surpassing Netanyahu's Likud. Regarding government formation, half of respondents rejected options involving Arab party support. The survey was conducted by the Kantar Institute between October 14-15, 2026.
The story in 5 lines · by baba
- Gadi Eisenkot's bloc leads Benjamin Netanyahu's bloc by two seats in a new Israeli public opinion poll.
- The Joint Arab List is projected to win 9 seats, and the United Arab List 5 seats, according to the survey.
- If elections were held today, Eisenkot's 'Yashar' party would win 24 seats, three more than Netanyahu's Likud.
- Half of poll respondents found no acceptable option for forming a government without a clear majority.
- 70% of participants stated that reports of Netanyahu receiving pre-attack warnings would not affect their vote.
A new public opinion poll conducted in Israel indicates that the bloc led by Gadi Eisenkot, head of the 'Yashar' party, is ahead of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's bloc by two seats. The poll, published by Israel Hayom, shows the anti-Netanyahu bloc securing 52 seats, compared to 50 seats for the Prime Minister's bloc. An additional four seats are allocated to the Handel-Zalicha alliance, whose alignment remains undecided.
The poll also projected the Joint Arab List to receive 9 seats, and the United Arab List 5 seats, totaling 14 seats for Arab parties. Individually, Gadi Eisenkot's 'Yashar' party is projected to win 24 seats, three more than Netanyahu's Likud party, which is expected to get 21 seats. Former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and current Opposition Leader Yair Lapid's 'B'Yachad' alliance is projected to win 12 seats.
Other projected seat allocations include 'Otzma Yehudit' with 9 seats, 'Democrats' (Labor-Meretz alliance) with 8, 'Yisrael Beiteinu' with 8, 'United Torah Judaism' with 7, 'Shas' with 7, 'Religious Zionism' led by Bezalel Smotrich with 6, and the United List with 5 seats.
Regarding the formation of a government without a clear majority, 50% of respondents stated none of the options were acceptable. However, 22% found a government supported by an Arab party within the coalition acceptable, 18% accepted external support from an Arab party, and 15% accepted support via abstention.
When asked if reports of Netanyahu receiving warnings before the October 7th attack would influence their vote, 70% of participants said it would not, while 30% indicated it would. The poll was conducted online by the Kantar Institute, led by David Hissid, on October 14-15, 2026, with a sample of 551 respondents out of 2,476 invited, carrying a maximum margin of error of 4.2%.
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