OCTOBER 16, 2026 08:42

Updated: OCTOBER 16, 2026 08:43

A clear majority of Israelis favor forming a unity government rather than holding another round of voting if the October 27 election fails to deliver a decisive outcome, according to a Maariv poll run by Lazar Research with Panel4ALL.

Just 27 percent backed calling a fresh election, and 18 percent remained undecided in the Friday survey.

Views split sharply along political lines. More than half of opposition supporters (54 percent) said they would back a unity government only if led by one of their own figures.

Coalition backers showed more split preferences, with nearly 40 percent wanting Benjamin Netanyahu at the helm of any unity arrangement and 32 percent preferring another election if talks stall.

Eisenkot Viewed as Stronger Prime Minister Candidate

The same Maariv poll showed 48 percent rating Yashar leader Gadi Eisenkot as better suited for prime minister than Benjamin Netanyahu, who earned 41 percent.

Netanyahu and Naftali Bennett of B'Yachad each drew 43 percent support in a direct matchup. Against Avigdor Liberman of Yisrael Beytenu, Netanyahu held a 43-to-37 percent edge.

Overall, 79 percent of respondents expressed optimism that their preferred bloc would prevail, while 21 percent felt pessimistic.

Optimism ran higher among coalition voters at 90 percent, compared with 75 percent among opposition voters.

Coalition and Opposition Each Drop One Seat

With election day approaching, Arab parties rose by one seat to a combined 14, while Likud slipped two seats to 18, per the latest Maariv findings.

The coalition bloc as a whole lost only one seat, landing at 51, helped by United Torah Judaism gaining one seat to reach eight and People of Israel clearing the threshold with four.

Yisrael Beytenu lost one seat to reach eight, dropping the opposition bloc by one to 51 and leaving both sides even.

The Reservists-Economic Party cleared the threshold with four seats and sits outside either bloc. Adding those seats to either side would still leave both short of the 61 needed for a majority.

Yashar Leads as Largest Party Ahead of B'Yachad and Likud

Yashar topped the poll with 21 seats, followed by B'Yachad at 13.

Yair Golan's Democrats stood at nine, while Yisrael Beytenu, Otzma Yehudit, the Joint List, and United Torah Judaism each reached eight.

Shas followed with seven, and both the Religious Zionist Party and Ra'am registered six.

People of Israel and the Reservists-Economic Party each secured four seats to pass the threshold.

Blue and White (1.1 percent), the Haredi Public (0.5 percent), Noam for Israel (0.5 percent), and Tzomet Beit Yisrael (0.2 percent) fell short. Undecided voters made up 5.2 percent.

The survey ran October 14-15 among 700 respondents representing Israel's adult population, including Jews and Arabs.