New Poll: Likud and Eisenkot’s Party Tied as New Center-Right Blocs Fail to Gain Traction
A new Kan News poll shows Israeli Prime Minister Binyomin Netanyahu’s Likud and Gadi Eisenkot’s Yashar party locked in a dead heat with 23 seats each, while two newly launched center-right political alliances remain below the electoral threshold and would fail to enter the Knesset.
According to the survey released Sunday evening, Likud gained one seat compared with the previous poll, drawing even with Yashar at 23 mandates apiece.
The two newest center-right parties—one led jointly by Yoaz Hendel and Matan Kahana? Actually Troper and Hendel? (the Troper-Hendel alliance), and another headed by Gilad Erdan and Yuli Edelstein—both remain below the electoral threshold. Their weak showing appears to have benefited larger parties. Likud and the Netanyahu bloc each gained one seat, bringing the coalition bloc to 53 mandates. Meanwhile, Yair Golan’s Democrats rebounded from eight seats in the previous survey to 10, while Yisrael Beiteinu also climbed one seat to 10.
Naftali Bennett’s Beyachad party held steady at 13 seats, unchanged from the previous poll. The survey also examined a scenario in which Hadash, Ta’al, and Balad reunite on a joint list, though such an alliance is currently uncertain. In that case, the combined Arab list would win eight seats, while Ra’am—running together with Yoav Segalovitz—would receive five seats. Together, the Arab parties would command 13 mandates, reducing the Netanyahu bloc to 52 seats.
When respondents were asked who is best suited to serve as prime minister, Netanyahu continued to lead Bennett by a margin of 41% to 31%, virtually unchanged from the previous survey. Netanyahu also widened his advantage over Eisenkot. After leading by four percentage points in the last poll, he now holds a seven-point edge, with 41% naming Netanyahu as the preferred prime minister compared with 34% for Eisenkot.
In a head-to-head comparison between Bennett and Eisenkot, the Yashar leader came out ahead with 31% support, while Bennett received 20%. Although Eisenkot maintained the lead, the gap narrowed significantly from last week’s survey, when he led Bennett by 22 percentage points.
The poll also found that 18% of respondents said they have recently considered leaving Israel. Among opposition voters, that figure rose to approximately 23%, compared with just 6% of coalition supporters. Despite those numbers, most Israelis do not appear alarmed by the trend. Sixty-seven percent said they are not concerned about the number of people leaving the country, while only 12% said the issue worries them.
{Matzav.com}