Gadi Eizenkot’s Yisrael Party Leads Knesset Poll, Smotrich’s Religious Zionism Gains

A new Kantar poll published on August 18, 2026, by Kan News reveals that if Knesset elections were held today, Gadi Eizenkot’s Yisrael party would be the largest, securing 24 seats. This marks a one-seat increase from the previous poll released earlier this week. The Likud party follows closely with 23 seats, maintaining its standing despite recent primaries. Naftali Bennett’s Yachdut party remains stable with 14 seats.

The Democrats, led by Yair Golan, hold steady at 10 seats. Otzma Yehudit under Itamar Ben-Gvir and Yisrael Beiteinu led by Avigdor Lieberman each have nine seats, down one from the last poll. United Torah Judaism, headed by Yitzhak Goldknopf, also retains nine seats, while Shas under Aryeh Deri holds seven. The Joint List, led by Yousef Jabareen and Ahmad Tibi, remains at six seats, and Mansour Abbas’s Ra’am has five.

Religious Zionism, led by Bezalel Smotrich, gains one seat, reaching five mandates. Despite these shifts, the overall bloc distribution remains unchanged, with the current coalition holding 52 seats versus 57 for the opposition. Arab parties collectively maintain 11 seats.

Parties below the electoral threshold include the Zionist House-Militarists at 2.9%, Balad under Sami Abu Shehadeh at 2.1%, the Unity party of Gilad Erdan and Yuli Edelstein at 1.6%, and Benny Gantz’s Blue and White at 1.4%.

Regarding the recent Likud primaries, 44% of respondents see no difference between the new and previous party lists, 24% are unsure, 18% believe the new list is better, and 14% think it is worse. Among Likud voters, 41% favor the new list. On the question of reserving a spot for Religious Zionism leader Bezalel Smotrich on the Likud list, 62% opposed, 14% supported, and 24% were undecided.

The poll surveyed 558 respondents aged 18 and over from a sample of 2,327, including the Arab sector, with a margin of error of plus or minus 4.2%.