Opposition Maintains Lead as Joint Arab List Alters Israeli Political Landscape

A new Israel Hayom poll published Thursday afternoon reveals the current political standings ahead of upcoming elections. The Yesh Atid party continues to lead, gaining strength with 23 seats, up from 22 in the previous poll. Conversely, Likud has weakened by one seat, dropping to 22. The Joint List, representing Arab parties, has surged to 8 seats, up from 5, significantly impacting the overall bloc dynamics.

Behind the two largest parties, Yisrael Beiteinu and the Democratic Union each hold 10 seats, Otzma Yehudit has 9, United Torah Judaism 8, Shas 7, and Religious Zionism has increased to 5 from 4. Ra'am has decreased to 5 seats from 6. The right-wing bloc totals only 51 seats, while the opposition bloc reaches 56 seats. An additional 13 seats remain unaligned with either bloc.

The political implication is clear: although the opposition maintains its lead, the formation of the united Arab list distances the opposition bloc from securing a clear Zionist majority. Without the Arab parties, the opposition bloc holds only 56 seats. At the bottom of the poll, three parties fail to cross the electoral threshold: Zionist Union of Reservists with 2.5%, Blue and White with 2.1%, and Achdut with 1.7%.