A new Maariv poll published Friday shows Gadi Eisenkot’s Yashar party maintaining its position as Israel’s largest party with 23 seats, while Likud drops by one seat to 21 and Naftali Bennett’s Beyachad party falls by one to 14.

The Netanyahu bloc slips to 48 seats, down from 49 in the previous poll. The Zionist opposition remains at 57 seats, while the Bayit Tzioni party led by Chili Tropper and Yoaz Hendel receives another four seats. The Arab parties together rise to 11 seats.

In a head-to-head question over suitability to serve as prime minister, Eisenkot expands his lead over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to double digits. Forty-nine percent of respondents said Eisenkot is more suitable for the job, compared with 38% for Netanyahu, while 13% said they did not know. In the previous poll, Eisenkot stood at 47%, while Netanyahu was also at 38%.

The poll also tested a scenario in which Hadash, Ta’al and Balad unite on a single list while Yoav Segalovich is placed second on the Ra’am slate. Under that scenario, the joint Arab list receives eight seats and Ra’am rises to six, bringing the Arab parties to a combined 14 seats. Yashar falls to 22 seats, Likud to 20 and Bennett’s Beyachad to 13. The Netanyahu bloc drops further to 47 seats, the Zionist opposition receives 55, and Bayit Tzioni remains at four.

The survey also asked how Israel should act if the United States signs an agreement with Iran but Israel identifies an immediate threat from Tehran requiring military action. Sixty-five percent of all respondents said Israel should strike even on its own and without U.S. approval, while 20% said Israel should act only with American agreement or cooperation and 16% said they did not know. Support for an independent strike reached 84% among coalition voters, 78% among voters in the third bloc, and 56% among Zionist opposition voters. Among Zionist opposition voters, 30% said Israel should strike only with U.S. approval or cooperation.

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