Israel’s Eisenkot leads Netanyahu by 9 points as coalition edges opposition by 2 seats: Poll

Israeli opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot leads Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by 9 percentage points in a new opinion poll on who is better suited to serve as prime minister, while Netanyahu’s governing bloc narrowly leads the opposition in projected Knesset seats.

The Channel 13 poll, conducted Tuesday in cooperation with Index, Stat-Net, Sample and Askaria, surveyed 886 respondents and had a margin of error of 3.3%.

According to the findings, 45% of respondents said Eisenkot, leader of the opposition Yashar party, was better suited to serve as prime minister, compared with 36% for Netanyahu, who leads the Likud party.

Israel is scheduled to hold general elections on Oct. 27, with Netanyahu seeking to form a new government to replace his current coalition, which has been in office since late 2022.

The poll also showed a shift in the projected distribution of Knesset seats in favor of Netanyahu’s bloc, after recent surveys had generally shown the opposition ahead.

If elections were held today, Netanyahu’s bloc would win 54 seats, compared with 52 for the Jewish opposition parties and 14 for Arab parties, according to the poll.

Likud would receive 18 seats, while the alliance between the Religious Zionism and Zehut parties, led by Bezalel Smotrich and Moshe Feiglin, would secure eight.

Itamar Ben-Gvir’s Otzma Yehudit would also receive eight seats, while Shas and United Torah Judaism would each win seven. The Amcha Yisrael party would receive six seats.

On the opposition side, Yashar would win 22 seats, Naftali Bennett’s Together party 12, Yair Golan’s Democrats 10, and Avigdor Lieberman’s Yisrael Beiteinu eight.

Among Arab parties, the Joint List would receive eight seats and Mansour Abbas’ Ra’am six.

A party or bloc needs the support of at least 61 lawmakers to form a government. The poll therefore indicates that neither Netanyahu’s bloc nor the Jewish opposition would reach the threshold without support from Arab parties, although opposition leaders have rejected relying on them to form a government.

A total of 38 lists have registered to contest the Knesset election, while the poll projects that 13 of them would win seats.

Netanyahu is on trial on corruption charges that could carry a prison sentence if he is convicted. He is also the subject of an International Criminal Court arrest warrant over war crimes and crimes against humanity in connection with Israel’s military campaign in Gaza.