Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s Likud has widened its lead as Israel’s largest party, while former IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot has overtaken Naftali Bennett as the leading challenger in the latest Channel 12 News poll.

If elections were held today, Likud would win 24 seats, followed by Eisenkot’s Yashar party with 22. Bennett’s Together alliance, which includes Yesh Atid, would receive 17 seats.

Despite the shifts among the parties, neither political bloc would secure a governing majority. The Zionist opposition is projected to win 58 seats, while the current coalition would receive 52. The Arab parties would hold the remaining 10 seats, leaving neither side with the 61-seat majority needed to form a government.

The Democrats, led by Yair Golan, would receive 10 seats, while Shas and Yisrael Beytenu each poll at nine. Otzma Yehudit would win eight seats, followed by United Torah Judaism with seven.

Ra’am and Hadash-Ta’al each receive five seats, while the Religious Zionism party narrowly clears the electoral threshold with four. Blue and White, The Reservists, and Balad all fail to enter the Knesset.

The survey also found Netanyahu reclaiming the lead in head-to-head matchups for prime minister.

Against Eisenkot, Netanyahu receives 37% support compared to Eisenkot’s 36%. Netanyahu also leads Bennett by 40% to 32%, and holds a commanding 40% to 23% advantage over Avigdor Liberman.

The poll also found that 46% of Israelis support the recently announced agreement with Lebanon, while 19% oppose it and 35% remain undecided.

Separately, 60% of respondents opposed a reported legislative deal between Netanyahu and the Chareidi parties that would advance a Basic Law on Torah study and protections for draft evaders in exchange for coalition-backed judicial and communications legislation. Just 26% expressed support for the proposal.

The poll surveyed 504 respondents and has a margin of error of 4.4%.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)