Poll: Bennett’s new party would be largest if elections held today; most Israelis see Qatar as enemy state

Former prime minister Naftali Bennett’s newly registered Bennett 2026 party would be the largest in the Knesset if elections were held today, and Bennett would be well placed to build a majority coalition, a Channel 12 poll shows. The polls also shows a rise in support for the center-left The Democrats and a decline for the centrist Yesh Atid.

General elections are not due until October 2026.

With Bennett’s party entering the race, the parties poll as follows in the 120-seat Knesset: Bennett 2026: 23 seats; Likud: 22; The Democrats: 13; Shas: 10; Yisrael Beytenu: 9; Otzma Yehudit: 9; Yesh Atid: 8; National Unity: 8; United Torah Judaism: 8; Hadash-Ta’al: 5. and Ra’am 5. The Religious Zionism and Balad parties would get no seats.

In terms of Knesset blocs, the Bennett-led anti-Netanyahu parties would hold 66 seats, with 49 for the current Netanyahu-led coalition parties, and Hadash-Ta’al holding the other five.

If only existing parties ran, they would score as follows: Likud: 24; The Democrats: 16; Yesh Atid: 14; National Unity: 14; Yisrael Beytenu: 14; Shas: 10; Otzma Yehudit: 10; United Torah Judaism: 8; Hadash-Ta’al: 5, and Ra’am: 5. The Religious Zionism and Balad parties would again get no seats.

In terms of Knesset blocs, anti-Netanyahu parties would hold 63 seats, with 52 for the current Netanyahu-led coalition parties, and Hadash-Ta’al holding the other five.

Asked in the poll whether they consider Qatar an enemy state, 59% of respondents said yes, and 17% said no. Among coalition voters, 62% said they consider Qatar an enemy state, while 15% do not.

Asked whether “advisers in the Prime Minister’s Office giving services to Qatar, at a time of war, is problematic or not,” 68% said problematic and 11% said not problematic.

The survey was conducted by Mano Geva and Midgam. Channel 12 did not give a margin of error or show other polling data.