Gadi Eizenkot's Yesh Atid Leads with 23 Seats as Likud Drops to 21 in New Poll

A new Channel 13 poll released on Wednesday shows Gadi Eizenkot's Yesh Atid party maintaining a lead with 23 Knesset seats if elections were held today. The Likud party, amid internal controversies over reserved spots on its list, falls to 21 seats. Naftali Bennett's Yamina and the Democrats each hold 12 and 11 seats respectively, while Yisrael Beiteinu has 10 seats. Otzma Yehudit is projected to win 8 seats, Shas 7, and United Torah Judaism 8. The Zionist Home party, led by Hili Tropper and Yoaz Hendel, crosses the electoral threshold with 4 seats. Parties failing to meet the threshold include ministers Amir Ohana and Yariv Levin's factions, Balad, and Benny Gantz's Blue and White.

The opposition bloc led by Eizenkot totals 56 seats, potentially rising to 60 if Hendel and Tropper join. Prime Minister Netanyahu's coalition holds 49 seats, with Arab parties occupying 11 seats in the middle. Regarding suitability for prime minister, Eizenkot leads with 47% support compared to Netanyahu's 34%. Among coalition supporters, Netanyahu enjoys 90% backing, while Eizenkot garners 71% support from other voters.

The poll also examined party merger scenarios ahead of elections. If Tropper joins Eizenkot, the combined party would secure 22 seats, fewer than Eizenkot alone, while Likud would drop to 20 seats. A united Arab party bloc (Hadash-Ta'al and Balad) would win 9 seats, and Ra'am with Segalovitz would have 5 seats, down two from the previous poll. Benny Gantz and Ayelet Shaked would fail to cross the threshold, as would Ohana and Levin. In this scenario, the opposition bloc holds 57 seats, the coalition 49, and Arab parties 14.