Israeli opposition leads Netanyahu bloc by 5 seats 3 weeks before election: Poll

Israel’s opposition bloc would win 54 seats in the 120-member Knesset compared with 49 for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition, according to a poll published three weeks before the Oct. 27 election.

The Channel 12 survey showed Gadi Eisenkot’s Yashar party remaining the largest party with 23 seats ahead of Netanyahu’s Likud with 21.

Former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s Beyachad party would win 13 seats, while the Democrats led by Yair Golan would take nine.

Within Netanyahu’s bloc, Shas and Jewish Power would secure seven seats each, while the Religious Zionism-Zehut alliance led by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich would take six.

The Joint List was projected to win eight seats following Balad leader Sami Abu Shehadeh’s withdrawal from the Knesset race, while the United Arab List, or Ra’am, would retain five.

Ofer Winter’s Amcha Yisrael party again failed to cross the electoral threshold, according to the poll.

Neither the opposition nor Netanyahu’s bloc would reach the 61 seats needed to form a government on its own.

The Knesset dissolved itself on July 17, paving the way for the Oct. 27 election.

Netanyahu has led the government since December 2022. He faces corruption charges, while the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for him in November 2024 over war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.