Bennett Gains Support as Netanyahu Bloc Weakens Ahead of Israeli Elections

A Channel 13 news poll conducted three months before the anticipated Israeli elections reveals a decline in support for the Likud party, which remains the largest party with 21 seats. The "Yashar!" party led by Gadi Eisenkot follows closely with 20 seats, while Naftali Bennett's "Together" party recovers to 17 seats. Other parties include the Democrats under Yair Golan with 11 seats, Yisrael Beiteinu with 10, Shas with 9, and both United Torah Judaism and Otzma Yehudit with 8 seats each. Hadash-Ta'al secures 6 seats, and both Religious Zionism and Ra'am receive 5 seats each. Blue and White, Balad, and the Reservists' Party remain below the electoral threshold.

In terms of political blocs, the current coalition holds 51 seats, the opposition 58, and Arab parties 11. Under a complex unification scenario involving a joint Hadash-Ta'al and Balad list (10 seats), a combined list of Gantz, Smotrich, and Handel (5 seats), and a new party formed by Ayelet Shaked, Yariv Levin, and Edelstein (4 seats), Likud would drop to 18 seats, Eisenkot's party to 19, and Bennett's party would fall to 14. This would shift the bloc distribution to 47 seats for the coalition, 50 for the opposition, 14 for Arab parties, and 9 for new parties.

The poll also shows that 26% of voters remain undecided, including 12% unsure of their choice and 8% planning to vote for parties unlikely to pass the threshold. Regarding Prime Minister Netanyahu's proposal for a broad national unity government, 51% oppose it while 29% support it. When asked about suitability for leading such a unity government, 44% prefer Gadi Eisenkot compared to 40% for Netanyahu.

Ahead of the 1,000-day mark since the outbreak of the October 7 war, the survey reveals public pessimism: only 25% believe Israel is winning the war, 15% say Hamas is winning, and 49% feel there is no clear outcome yet. The poll was conducted by HaMidmad (Shmuel Rosner, Nahum Salpakov) in cooperation with Stat-Net (Yosef Makleda), the Midgam Project (Dr. Ariel Eyalon), and Askaria (Dudi Dror), with statistical consulting by Prof. David Steinberg.