Israel’s political landscape has tightened dramatically, with a new poll showing Prime Minister Binyomin Netanyahu’s Likud and Gadi Eisenkot’s Yashar party locked in a tie for first place, each projected to win 23 Knesset seats. The survey, released Sunday by Kan News, marks the first time in the current election campaign that the two leading parties have been dead even.

Compared to the previous poll, Likud slipped by one seat while Yashar gained one, resulting in the 23-23 tie. Former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s Beyachad party remained in third place with 16 seats, unchanged from the previous survey.

Among the mid-sized parties, the Democrats, Otzma Yehudit, and Yisrael Beiteinu each received nine projected seats. Avigdor Lieberman’s Yisrael Beiteinu gained one seat compared to the previous poll, indicating modest momentum.

The chareidi parties also posted encouraging numbers. United Torah Judaism climbed by one seat to eight mandates, matching Shas, which remained steady at eight seats. Hadash-Ta’al was projected to receive six seats, Religious Zionism five, and Ra’am four. The Miluimnikim party (2.3%), Blue and White (1.9%), and Balad all fell below the electoral threshold.

Under the current projections, Netanyahu’s governing coalition would secure 53 seats, while parties opposed to him would control 67 seats.

The poll also examined a hypothetical new party led jointly by Yuli Edelstein, Ayelet Shaked, and Gilad Erdan. Such a party would be expected to win six seats, drawing support primarily from Likud, Yashar, Bennett’s Beyachad, and Religious Zionism. Under that scenario, Netanyahu’s bloc would fall to just 50 seats.

The survey also found a significant shift in public opinion regarding the race for prime minister. For the first time, Eisenkot narrowly edged out Netanyahu in a head-to-head matchup, with 41% saying Eisenkot is better suited to serve as prime minister, compared with 40% for Netanyahu.

Netanyahu, however, maintained a clear advantage when matched against Bennett, leading 41% to 33% in the poll’s prime minister preference question.

{Matzav.com}