Gadi Eizenkot's Yashar Party Surges to 24 Seats, Netanyahu's Likud Drops to 22

A new political poll published by Kan News on Sunday shows Gadi Eizenkot's Yashar party rising to 24 Knesset seats, overtaking Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud, which fell by one seat to 22. This creates a two-seat gap between the two leading parties, with Eizenkot maintaining a significant lead over Netanyahu.

Naftali Bennett's Yachdut party remains stable at 14 seats, while the Democrats, led by Yair Golan, gain strength with 10 seats. Avigdor Lieberman's Yisrael Beiteinu and Itamar Ben-Gvir's Otzma Yehudit both hold 9 seats each. Among the ultra-Orthodox parties, Yahadut HaTorah remains steady at 8 seats, and Shas, led by Aryeh Deri, drops to 7 seats, marking a notable decline from its current standing in the 26th Knesset.

In the Arab sector, the United Arab List (Hadash-Ta'al-Balad) secures 7 seats, and Mansour Abbas's Ra'am holds 5 seats. Several parties remain below the electoral threshold, including Beit Tziony led by Hili Tropper and Yoaz Hendel, a new party led by Ofer Winter, Blue and White under Benny Gantz, and Haachdut led by Gilad Erdan.

The bloc map indicates Netanyahu's bloc weakened by one seat to 51, while the Arab bloc increased to 12 seats due to the Hadash-Ta'al-Balad alliance. Eizenkot's bloc remains stable at 57 seats, still short of the 61-seat majority needed to form a government. This stalemate suggests no bloc can form a government without additional partners.

An intriguing scenario tested in the poll shows that if Ofer Winter's party includes journalist Natali Shem Tov, spokesperson Yosef Hadad, and bereaved mother Lali Deri, it could surpass the electoral threshold with 5 seats. This would push Bezalel Smotrich's party below the threshold, removing it from the Knesset.