Despite growing frustration within the chareidi community, voters are still expected to head to the polls in large numbers when Israel next goes to elections, according to Tzuriel Sharon, head of the Direct Polls Institute.

Speaking in an interview on Kol Chai Radio’s Hamahadura Hamerkazis, Sharon analyzed the latest political trends, discussing the balance between the coalition and opposition blocs, the rise of Gadi Eisenkot, the decline of Naftali Bennett, and the outlook for Shas and Yahadut HaTorah.

According to Sharon, Direct Polls’ latest weekend survey gives Prime Minister Binyomin Netanyahu’s coalition bloc 57 seats. The opposition reaches 63 seats only when the Arab parties are included in the calculation.

“Without the Arab parties,” Sharon said, “neither side is able to form a government.”

Sharon pointed to the continued rise of Gadi Eisenkot, who has surpassed the 20-seat mark for the first time in Direct Polls surveys. However, he believes the former IDF chief’s momentum is nearing its peak.

“For the first time he has reached the 20-seat range,” Sharon said. “In my assessment, he is approaching the ceiling of his growth. I don’t expect the numbers to continue rising dramatically.”

He said Eisenkot’s future prospects will depend on several factors, including the possible addition of Dedi Simchi and Yoaz Hendel to Benny Gantz’s camp, whether Eisenkot, Naftali Bennett, and Yair Lapid ultimately unite, and whether a new right-wing party emerges that could draw moderate right-wing voters back from the center-left.

“I believe that, from the perspective of the center-left bloc, such a merger would actually be less effective electorally,” Sharon said.

Sharon also addressed the weakening position of Bennett and Lapid. He argued that talk of cooperation between the two emerged largely because Bennett’s support had fallen to 11 seats, Eisenkot had overtaken him in the polls, and Lapid was hovering near the electoral threshold.

He also suggested Bennett made a strategic mistake by launching his campaign too early.

“In my opinion, Bennett came out far too early,” Sharon said. “That causes the loss of a tremendous amount of momentum and energy.”

He noted that an effective election campaign generally lasts only two or three months, while the next election is still months away, making it difficult to maintain political momentum through October.

The discussion also turned to the chareidi parties. Direct Polls currently projects Shas with nine seats and Yahadut HaTorah with seven.

Sharon explained that Shas benefits not only from its chareidi base but also from three or four mandates worth of traditional Sephardic voters.

“There is one major player with his eyes on that electorate,” Sharon said. “His name is Itamar Ben Gvir.”

Regarding Yahadut HaTorah, Sharon acknowledged widespread disappointment among chareidi voters with their political representatives but predicted that dissatisfaction would not translate into lower voter turnout.

“There is certainly frustration and anger in the chareidi street,” Sharon said. “But I still believe the chareidim will come out and vote in large numbers in the next election.”