Gadi Eizenkot Maintains Lead in Israeli Political Poll as Smotrich Declines

A new Maariv poll published on Friday shows a stable political landscape in Israel, with Gadi Eizenkot's party "Yashar!" holding steady at 23 seats for the third consecutive week, maintaining its position as the leading party. The Likud party, led by Benjamin Netanyahu, follows closely with 22 seats, unchanged from the previous poll. Naftali Bennett's "Together" party holds 15 seats, Avigdor Lieberman's "Yisrael Beiteinu" has 10, and Yair Golan's "The Democrats" secured 9 seats, all consistent with prior results.

Among the ultra-Orthodox parties, there were no changes: Yahadut HaTorah remains at 8 seats and Shas at 7 seats for the second week in a row. Otzma Yehudit, led by Itamar Ben-Gvir, increased its representation to 8 seats, gaining one at the expense of Bezalel Smotrich's Religious Zionism party, which dropped to 4 seats. Despite these shifts, the coalition and opposition balance remains unchanged, with the coalition holding 49 seats and the Zionist opposition 57 seats, potentially reaching a majority with the 4 seats of Yoaz Hendel's "Zionist Home - Reservists" party.

The Arab parties maintain 10 seats, with ongoing discussions about Yoav Segalovich possibly joining Mansour Abbas's Ra'am party, though this has yet to impact poll numbers. Regarding Ra'am's potential inclusion in a future coalition, 55% of Israelis oppose it, even if Segalovich secures the second spot on Ra'am's list. Supporters of the coalition overwhelmingly reject Ra'am's participation (84%), while Zionist opposition voters are divided, and Arab party voters largely support it (62%).

On the Gaza peace roadmap issue, 54% of Israelis oppose the plan, including 72% of coalition voters, while 24% support it. Arab party voters are the only group with majority support (58%) for the plan. In terms of suitability for prime minister, Naftali Bennett leads with 43% support compared to Netanyahu's 40%, and Eizenkot leads Netanyahu 47% to 38%, both unchanged from the previous poll. Netanyahu continues to lead Avigdor Lieberman 42% to 38%, also stable from before.