Gadi Eisenkot's 'Yashar!' Tops Israeli Poll, Netanyahu's Likud Drops to Second

A new Channel 13 poll published on Wednesday shows that if elections were held today, the party "Yashar!" led by former IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot would be the largest with 23 Knesset seats. The Likud party, led by Benjamin Netanyahu, falls to 22 seats, while Naftali Bennett's party holds steady at 13 seats. Other notable results include Israel Beytenu gaining one seat to reach 11, and "The Democrats" under Yair Golan also securing 11 seats. Otzma Yehudit, headed by Itamar Ben-Gvir, receives 9 seats, followed by United Torah Judaism with 8, and Shas maintaining 7 seats for the second consecutive week.

The Joint List (Hadash-Ta'al) is projected to get 6 seats, with Religious Zionism and Ra'am each at 5 seats. Parties such as those led by Hili Tropper and Yoaz Hendel, Balad, and Blue and White under Benny Gantz fall below the electoral threshold. The opposition bloc totals 58 seats, Netanyahu's coalition bloc 51, and Arab parties hold 11 seats. Eisenkot leads as the preferred prime minister candidate with 46% support, compared to Netanyahu's 36%.

The poll also explored potential party mergers. A union of Hadash-Ta'al and Balad would yield 8 seats, while a merger between Mansour Abbas and Yoav Segalovich would give Ra'am 7 seats. However, parties like Tropper-Hendel, Aharon-Arden, and Gantz-Simchi remain below the threshold in these scenarios. Public opinion shows 45% oppose Ra'am joining a future coalition even if it separates from the Islamic Movement and Segalovich joins, while 29% support it under these conditions and 26% are undecided.

Among coalition supporters, opposition to Ra'am's inclusion is strong at 79%, with only 6% in favor. Conversely, 65% of the Arab sector supports Ra'am joining under these terms, with 23% opposed. Among the general public outside coalition supporters, 37% back the move, 32% oppose it, and 31% are undecided. The survey was conducted by HaMidgam in collaboration with Stat-Net, Midgam Project, and Askaria, with a sample size of 961 respondents and a margin of error of 3.7%.