Gadi Eizenkot's Yisrael Party Surpasses Likud in New Israeli Poll

A new poll by Kan News reveals that Gadi Eizenkot's Yisrael party has overtaken Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud as the largest party in the Knesset for the first time. Yisrael now holds 24 seats, while Likud has 23. The additional seat for Yisrael came at the expense of the Yachdav party led by Naftali Bennett, which dropped to 15 seats. Otzma Yehudit, led by Itamar Ben-Gvir, lost one seat, now holding eight, and Hadash-Ta'al also decreased to five seats. Ra'am gained one seat, reaching five, and Yisrael Beiteinu increased to ten seats. Other parties such as the Democrats, Religious Zionism, Shas, and United Torah Judaism maintained their previous seat counts.

In bloc terms, Netanyahu's coalition weakened by one seat to 52, while the opposition bloc holds 68 seats. However, if major opposition parties refuse to partner with Hadash-Ta'al and Ra'am, their effective count drops to 58 seats. A hypothetical scenario with two new right-wing parties, one led by Gilad Erdan, Ayelet Shaked, and Yuli Edelstein gaining five seats, and another led by Ofer Winter failing to pass the threshold, would reduce Netanyahu's bloc to 49 seats. Combined with Erdan's party, the opposition bloc would reach 61 seats excluding Arab parties.

Another scenario considers Hili Tropper joining Eizenkot's Yisrael party, boosting it to 25 seats and increasing its lead over Likud to two seats, while Yachdav falls to 14 seats. Regarding prime minister suitability, Netanyahu leads Bennett 38% to 34%, but trails Eizenkot 37% to 41%. Eizenkot leads Bennett 39% to 21%.

Respondents identified security as the top election issue (25%), followed closely by the October 7 massacre and inquiry commission (24%), economy and cost of living (22%), and judicial reform (12%). On security agency performance, 40% rated Shin Bet chief David Zini positively, while 34% disagreed, reflecting a divide between coalition and opposition supporters. Police and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir received 59% negative evaluations. Lastly, 56% support opening businesses on Shabbat, with 29% opposed.