Netanyahu's Likud drops to lowest level since June 2025 as Eisenkot reaches record high - poll

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party has reached its lowest polling position since June 2025 with just 20 seats in a new Maariv survey published Friday.

In comparison Yashar under former IDF chief of staff Gadi Eisenkot picked up one seat to hit a record 23 mandates and now holds a three-seat advantage over Likud.

The survey also showed former prime minister Naftali Bennett's Together party gaining one seat to reach 17 while Yisrael Beytenu rose by one to 10 seats.

Yair Golan's Democrats stayed steady at 11 seats after the party's primaries.

Inside the coalition Itamar Ben-Gvir's Otzma Yehudit added one seat to reach eight matching the unchanged haredi parties Shas and United Torah Judaism. Bezalel Smotrich's Religious Zionist Party also gained one seat rising to five.

These changes left the opposition bloc down one seat yet still holding a 61-seat majority. Netanyahu's coalition improved to 49 seats and the Arab parties held steady at 10 seats.

Yesodot Israel led by Chili Tropper and Yoaz Hendel fell short of the threshold with 2.9 percent support. Balad stayed below at 1.7 percent and Benny Gantz's Blue and White received 1.6 percent.

Did Bennett and Lapid's merger change voting plans?

The poll explored how current Together supporters planned to vote before the Bennett-Lapid partnership. Of the projected 17 seats ten come from voters already backing Bennett for 2026 five from Yesh Atid supporters and two from those who had favored other parties prior to the alliance.

Nearly half of Zionist opposition voters 46 percent want Bennett and Lapid to stay together while 31 percent prefer they split and 23 percent are unsure.

A majority 57 percent of Zionist opposition voters think Tropper and Hendel should join an existing party 19 percent favor them continuing alone and 24 percent are undecided.

If Tropper and Hendel joined Yashar the party would climb to 27 seats matching the combined total when running separately and widening its lead over Likud.

This shift would reduce Together to 14 seats but leave bloc balances unchanged with the Zionist opposition at 61 seats Netanyahu's coalition at 49 and Arab parties at 10.

Bennett leads Netanyahu as preferred prime minister candidate poll shows

The Maariv poll found Bennett ahead of Netanyahu for prime minister suitability with 45 percent support to Netanyahu's 42 percent.

The margin is almost identical to the early July survey. Eisenkot leads Netanyahu by six points 46 percent to 40 percent a slight narrowing from before. Between Eisenkot and Bennett the gap stayed similar with Eisenkot at 38 percent and Bennett at 23 percent.

The survey by Lazar Research in cooperation with the Panele4ALL panel was conducted July 22-23 among 500 respondents representing Israel's adult population aged 18 and over including Jewish and Arab participants. The maximum margin of error was 4.4 percent.