A new Channel 14 poll shows Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu strengthening while Gadi Eisenkot loses ground, following controversy over claims that Eisenkot promised to work toward including Ra’am in a future government.

The survey, released Thursday night, gives Likud 31 seats, up from 30 in Tuesday’s poll, while Eisenkot’s Yashar falls from 21 to 20. The gap between the parties consequently widens from nine seats to 11.

The poll followed comments by Tuba-Zangariyye council head Muayed al-Hayeb, who claimed Eisenkot made the coalition commitment during a meeting with Bedouin municipal leaders. Yashar strongly denied the claim.

The larger shift appeared in the question of who is most suited to serve as prime minister. In a four-candidate matchup, Netanyahu rose four percentage points to 55%, while Eisenkot dropped six points to 29%. Naftali Bennett received 11% and Avigdor Lieberman 5%.

In a separate head-to-head question, Netanyahu led Eisenkot 57% to 43%, a 14-point gap.

Despite the changes between individual parties, the reported bloc totals remained unchanged. Channel 14’s right-wing bloc held 64 seats, the opposition bloc received 44, and the Arab parties accounted for the remaining 12.

Shas remained at 10 seats, while Bennett’s party gained one seat to reach nine. The Democrats dropped one seat to eight, with Otzma Yehudit and United Torah Judaism also receiving eight seats each. The Joint List and Yisrael Beiteinu each received seven, while Ra’am held at five.

Below the electoral threshold, Ofer Winter’s Amcha Israel rose from 2.3% to 2.6%, while the Reservists-Economic party edged up from 2.1% to 2.2%. Blue and White received 0.4%, the Haredi Public party 0.3%, and Noam 0.1%.

NEXT DATA conducted the latest survey on September 17 among 817 adults from the general population, with data analysis by Shlomo Filber. The previous survey was conducted September 15 among 483 adults.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)