A Channel 12 News poll published Monday evening showed a shift at the top of Israel’s political landscape, with Gadi Eisenkot’s Yashar party moving into first place with 24 Knesset seats, one up from a previous poll. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party fell to 22 seats, placing it second.
Naftali Bennett’s B'Yachad party came in third with 15 seats. The Democrats, led by Yair Golan, also gained support, rising to 11 seats, while Avigdor Liberman’s Yisrael Beytenu climbed to 10. Otzma Yehudit, led by Itamar Ben Gvir, also strengthened, receiving eight seats.
There was no significant change among the ultra-Orthodox parties. United Torah Judaism remained at eight seats, while Shas held steady at seven after declining in the previous poll. Bezalel Smotrich’s Religious Zionist Party also remained unchanged at five seats.
The two Arab parties each received five seats, with Hadash-Ta'al and Mansour Abbas’s Ra'am both projected to enter the Knesset.
Tropper, Hendel's The Zionist Home – The Reservists below threshold
Several other parties seeking to establish themselves as alternatives in Israel’s political landscape remained below the electoral threshold. The Zionist Home – The Reservists, led by Hili Tropper and Yoaz Hendel, which had crossed the threshold in recent polls, fell to 2.7%.
Balad, led by Sami Abu Shehadeh, received 1.6%, while Gilad Erdan’s Yamin party received 1.3%. Benny Gantz’s Blue and White received just 0.8%. All four parties remained below Israel’s 3.25% electoral threshold.
The overall balance between the political blocs remained similar to the previous poll. Parties opposed to Netanyahu received a combined 70 seats, including 60 for the Zionist opposition parties and 10 for the Arab parties. The parties currently making up the governing coalition, meanwhile, received a combined 50 seats.
Poll examined united Arab parties, other scenarios
The poll also scrutinized how voters would react to a scenario in which Hadash, Ta'al, and Balad united to run as a joint list, and former Yesh Atid MK Yoav Segalovitz runs on Ra'am's list, as he has reportedly been planning on doing.
In this scenario, Yashar would fall by one seat to 23, as would the Democrats, to 10. Ra'am, however, would rise to six seats, and the joint Arab list would rise to six.
This scenario would see the anti-Netanyahu bloc remain at 70 seats, but with Arab parties holding 12 of them.
In another scenario, namely the unification of Blue and White, The Zionist Home-The Reservists, and Gilad Erdan's Yamin party as a "third bloc," the joint list mentioned would receive six seats. Yashar would fall to 22, Likud to 19, and B'Yachad to 14.
This would mean that the opposition bloc would fall to 67 seats as a whole while the opposition would stand at 47 seats and the third bloc at six.
Respondents of the poll chose Eisenkot as more suitable than Netanyahu for the prime minister's post by a margin of 5%, and Bennett over Netanyahu by 2%.
63% of respondents said US President Donald Trump undermines Israel's security more than Netanyahu, at a margin of 63% to 25%. Voters also trust Netanyahu to deal with Trump more than other party leaders.
At 44%, a plurality of voters said Israel shouldn't go against Trump if he declares the war with Iran over, but 36% said Israel should strike Iran by itself in that scenario.
Despite this, 64% of the public said Israel should continue to attack Hamas targets in Gaza amid Trump administration officials' plans to end hostilities in the area.