Gadi Eizenkot’s Yisrael Party Leads with 23 Seats as Trooper-Hendel Bloc Passes Threshold

A new Channel 12 poll published on Monday shows that if elections were held today, the Yisrael party led by Gadi Eizenkot would be the largest in Israel with 23 Knesset seats, down one seat from last week’s poll. The Likud party follows closely with 22 seats, also losing one seat compared to the previous survey. The Yachdut party under Naftali Bennett drops to 14 seats, and the Democratic party falls to 10 seats. Israel Beytenu maintains its strength with 9 seats.

Religious parties Shas, United Torah Judaism, and Otzma Yehudit remain steady at 8 seats each. Both Hadash-Ta'al and Ra'am receive 5 seats each, while Religious Zionism holds 4 seats. Notably, the new party "Zionist Home - Reservists," led by Hili Trooper and Yoaz Hendel, crosses the electoral threshold for the first time. Blue and White, led by Benny Gantz, and Balad, headed by Sami Abu Shehadeh, fall below the threshold with 1.6% and 1.2% respectively.

The poll indicates that the anti-Netanyahu bloc rises to 70 seats, with Zionist opposition parties gaining 60 seats for the first time, while the coalition parties hold only 50 seats. A hypothetical joint list of Hadash, Ta'al, and Balad would gain 6 seats, one more than running separately, slightly weakening Ra'am to 4 seats. This scenario would not alter the overall bloc distribution.

Regarding prime minister preferences, both Eizenkot and Netanyahu receive equal support at 38%, while Netanyahu leads against Bennett with 40% to 34%. Netanyahu also leads over Avigdor Lieberman with 39% to 25%. Voter confidence remains high, with 90% somewhat or very sure of their vote. Among those switching parties, 44% cited dissatisfaction with party performance, and 29% were influenced by the October 7 war.

Security and war management are the top voting issues for 32% of respondents, followed by economic concerns at 25%. A parallel i24NEWS poll shows Likud leading with 29 seats, Yisrael dropping to 21, and the Trooper-Hendel party failing to cross the threshold. The coalition holds 59 seats, and the opposition 61 in that poll. The competition for prime minister remains tight between Netanyahu and Eizenkot, with Netanyahu slightly ahead against Bennett.