ByESTHER DAVIS

JULY 28, 2026 06:13

Should Knesset elections take place now, Gadi Eisenkot's Yashar! party would emerge as the largest in Israel, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud close behind based on an N12 survey released Monday.

The survey showed Yashar! capturing 23 seats, down one from the prior week, while Likud would also drop one seat to reach 22 mandates.

Together, under Naftali Bennett, slipped one seat from the earlier poll to land at 14 mandates. Yair Golan's Democrats likewise fell one seat to total 10.

Yisrael Beytenu under Avigdor Lieberman held steady at nine seats, N12 reported. Shas, United Torah Judaism, and Otzma Yehudit each stayed at eight seats matching last week's figures.

The Arab parties Hadash-Ta'al and Ra'am each earned five seats, and Bezalel Smotrich's Religious Zionist Party received four.

Tropper and Hendel's party clears electoral threshold

Blue and White led by Benny Gantz and Balad led by Sami Abu Shehadeh both fell short of the threshold, registering 1.6 percent and 1.3 percent respectively.

The new poll showed that Chili Tropper and Yoaz Hendel's Bayit Tzioni - HaMiluimnikim would clear the threshold and secure four seats if voting occurred today.

The threshold stands at 3.25 percent, requiring parties to obtain at least that share of votes for Knesset representation.

N12 noted that with Bayit Tzioni - HaMiluimnikim clearing the threshold the opposition reached 70 seats while the current coalition parties obtained 50 of the 120 Knesset seats.

This poll marks the first occasion non-Arab opposition parties reached 60 seats.

N12 further found that a merger of the Arab parties Hadash-Ta'al and Balad would cost Likud one more seat, reducing it to 21.

Best Candidate for Prime Minister

Although Eisenkot had led Netanyahu as the preferred prime minister candidate in prior polls, the latest survey showed the two tied at 38 percent support.

Netanyahu still leads Bennett in leadership suitability, with 40 percent favoring him over the former prime minister compared to 34 percent for Bennett.

Netanyahu also ranks ahead of Lieberman at 39 percent versus 25 percent.

Issues affecting voters

A strong majority expressed confidence in their voting choice, with only 10 percent indicating they remained hesitant, the poll revealed.

Among undecided voters, 1.3 percent back the Netanyahu bloc, 4 percent support the change bloc, and 1.3 percent remain uncertain.

Nearly 30 percent of those planning to switch parties from the last election cited October 7 as a factor in their shift.

Additionally, 32 percent identified security and war management as the most influential issue for their vote, ranking it the leading concern.

About one-fifth pointed to bloc divisions and social polarization as the top influence, 12 percent cited personal security and crime prevention, and 12 percent named bloc leadership.