Poll shows pro-Netanyahu bloc pulling even with opponents, in sharp shift

IDF investigating after 2 Palestinians said shot dead amid clashes during pet retrieval operation

The Palestinian Authority reports that two young Palestinian men where shot dead in the West Bank town of al-Mughayyir, where the Israel Defense Forces says it was operating to retrieve pets owned by Israelis.

WAFA, the PA’s official news agency, says the two 19-year-olds were killed in what it describes as an attack by settlers and Israeli forces. The military however says troops were providing police and an Israeli civilian who entered the village to find the pets, which it adds were identified as belonging to Israelis, when the soldiers were attacked with bricks and stones.

According to the IDF, troops responded with live fire “toward the primary inciters to remove the threat. Hits were identified.”

The army says it’s investigating “the events that preceded the incident and the management of it.”

Herzog claims to CNN that Israel is making ‘major effort’ to curb settler violence

President Isaac Herzog insists that Israeli authorities are taking rampant settler violence seriously, after he is pushed on the topic during a CNN interview.

Herzog calls the perpetrators “juvenile delinquents” and claims “there is a major effort by our authorities to undermine these activities and bring people to justice.” He notes that a series of arrests were carried out earlier this week, though most of the near-daily settler attacks do not lead to arrests or prosecutions.

Herzog likens the phenomenon to “inner-city violence,” though the two phenomena are different, as the perpetrators in the West Bank often profess that they are acting out of ideological nationalist motives, and seek to expel Palestinians from the West Bank.

Still, Herzog calls the Jewish extremists behind the daily attacks on Palestinians, a “shame on the face of Israel,” repeating a sentiment he has expressed previously.

My full interview with @Isaac_Herzog. We discuss the increasing settler violence in the West Bank, the upcoming Israeli elections and the status of the Gaza board of peace. pic.twitter.com/dLqM1FUfLJ

— Bianna Golodryga (@biannagolodryga) September 2, 2026

PM seen nodding as yeshiva students sing song about taking vengeance against Palestinians

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is seen nodding along as yeshiva students welcome him to their seminary in Sderot with a song about taking revenge against Palestinians, popular with the far right.

The song, which is based on a verse from the story of Samson in the biblical book of Judges, is often sung by extremist settlers and their allies. It ends with Samson asking to take revenge on the Philistines, though those singing the song, as in this case, often replace “Philistines” with “Palestine.”

בנוכחות נתניהו בשדרות-

בחורי הישיבה שרים בלהט: ״ואינקמה נקם אחת משתי עיני מפלסטין, יימח שם״.

נתניהו מהנהן pic.twitter.com/U2al03tVOZ

— מיכאל שמש Michael Shemesh (@shemeshmicha) September 2, 2026

Poll shows pro-Netanyahu bloc pulling even with opponents, in sharp shift

Left: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends a state ceremony on Mount Herzl, in Jerusalem, August 05, 2026. (Chaim Goldberg/FLASH90); (right) Head of the Yashar party Gadi Eisenkott attends a conference at the Peres center in Tel Aviv. July 12, 2026. (Miriam Alster/FLASH90)

A Channel 13 poll shows the bloc of parties supporting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pulling even with his opponents, in a stark shift from most polls, though it predicts neither side would be close to attaining a majority of the Knesset.

The poll shows the pro- and anti-Netanyahu blocs winning 53 seats each, eight shy of a 61-seat majority. Arab parties hold the balance of 14 seats.

That’s a significant change from the previous Channel 13 poll a week ago, which showed the opposition leading the pro-Netanyahu parties 57 to 48, with 15 for the Arab parties.

The change appears due to two right-wing pro-Netanyahu parties making it into the Knesset: Ofter Winter’s People of Israel, with four seats, and the new merger of the far-right Religious Zionism and Zehut parties, with six.

In addition, Netanyahu’s Likud party narrows its gap with the election frontrunner, the opposition Yashar party led by Gadi Eisenkot. Last week, Channel 13 found that Yashar would win 24 and Likud 19. This week, however, Yashar would win 22, just one more than Likud’s 21.

The addition of Jewish former lawmaker Yoav Segalovitz to the Arab Ra’am party does not change its polling performance, at five seats.

The poll had 940 respondents and a 3.4% margin of error.