Gadi Eizenkot Gains Support as Netanyahu's Likud Leads in New Israeli Poll

A new poll by Channel 12, published on June 29, 2026, shows that if elections were held today, Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party would be the largest in Israel with 24 seats. Meanwhile, Gadi Eizenkot's party, Yisrael!, has strengthened by one seat to 22, continuing a trend of growth within the anti-Netanyahu bloc. Conversely, Naftali Bennett's Yachdut party has weakened by one seat, now holding 17 seats.

Despite these shifts within the blocs, the overall distribution of seats remains unchanged: the Zionist opposition bloc holds 58 seats, while the current coalition has 52. Other notable parties include Yair Golan's Democrats with 10 seats, Shas and Yisrael Beiteinu each maintaining 9 seats, Otzma Yehudit dropping to 8 seats, and United Torah Judaism steady at 7 seats. The Arab parties Ra'am and Hadash-Ta'al hold 5 seats each, with Religious Zionism just above the threshold at 4 seats.

A hypothetical joint list of Blue and White (led by Benny Gantz), the Reservists (led by Yoaz Hendel), and Dedi Simchi would gain one seat to 6, but would reduce the coalition's total to 50 seats, while the Zionist opposition would hold 54 seats and Arab parties 10 seats. In this scenario, Likud would drop to 22 seats, Yisrael! to 20, and Yachdut to 15.

Regarding leadership suitability, Netanyahu regained his lead over Eizenkot and other contenders, with 37% preferring Netanyahu over Eizenkot's 36%, 40% over Bennett's 32%, and 40% over Lieberman's 23%. Public opinion also shows 46% support for the recent Israel-Lebanon agreement, with higher backing among opposition voters (54%) than coalition supporters (44%). However, 60% oppose Netanyahu's deal with ultra-Orthodox parties involving legislation on Torah study, immunity for draft dodgers, and advancing laws on the attorney general's role and a political inquiry into the October 7 failure.

The poll was conducted by Meno Geva's Consulting and Research on June 29, 2026, with a representative sample of 504 respondents aged 18 and over, using internet and telephone methods, and a margin of error of ±4.4%.