Poll Shows Eizenkot Edging Bennett in Opposition Leadership Battle

A new N12 survey aired on "Ulpan Shishi" on June 12, 2026, examines the struggle inside the anti-Netanyahu bloc over who is better placed to lead it, Naftali Bennett or Gadi Eizenkot. The poll also asks whether a Bennett, Yair Lapid and Eizenkot alliance should run together, why such a merger has not happened, and whether either man would join Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.

Among the general public, 33% said Eizenkot is more suitable for prime minister, compared with 21% for Bennett, while 38% said neither is suitable. Among voters who plan to support opposition parties, Eizenkot leads Bennett by 10 points on the same question. In the opposition camp, 44% said Bennett, Lapid and Eizenkot should run together, while 37% preferred separate runs.

If Bennett and Eizenkot formed a joint list, 52% of opposition voters said Eizenkot should head it and 34% chose Bennett. Asked why no merger has been formed, 23% blamed ideological disagreements, 21% cited Bennett’s ego, 15% cited Eizenkot’s ego, and 41% said they did not know. On the question of a future Netanyahu government, 34% thought Bennett would agree to join, versus 19% for Eizenkot.

The poll also found little likelihood of voters switching sides in a joint run, with only 6% of Netanyahu-bloc voters saying they might move if Bennett led the list, and similar results if Eizenkot led. Separately, 10% of Likud voters said Tali Gottlieb harms the party and should not be on its list, followed by Dudi Amsalem at 9%, Miri Regev and Orit Strock at 6% each, Nissim Vaturi at 4%, and Hanoch Milwidsky at 1%. Thirty percent wanted all of them back in the next Knesset.

On a proposed plea deal that would cancel Netanyahu’s trial and remove him from politics, 39% supported it and 44% opposed it. The poll-of-polls gives Likud 23 seats, Bennett and Eizenkot a little over 20 each, and the opposition bloc 59 seats to the coalition’s 51, with Arab parties on 10.