Zman Yisrael poll sees Eisenkot surpass Likud with 23 seats, able to form coalition

A new poll by Zman Yisrael, The Times of Israel’s Hebrew-language sister site, has Gadi Eisenkot’s Yashar party surpassing the ruling Likud party for the first time and becoming the largest party in the Knesset.

The survey sees Yashar winning 23 seats if elections were held today, with Likud at 21. Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid’s Together are at 17, Yisrael Beiteinu 11, Shas 10, Otzma Yehudit 8, United Torah Judaism 7, The Democrats 7, Hadash-Ta’al 4, Religious Zionism 4, Ra’am 4 and Blue and White 4. The Reservists party and Balad both failed to cross the electoral threshold.

The poll gives Zionist opposition parties 62 of 120 seats, enough to form a coalition. The 62 figure includes Benny Gantz’s Blue and White party, which has been working on a merger with Yoaz Hendel’s Reservists and political newcomer Dedy Simhi. None of the key figures in this potential alliance has ruled out sitting in a coalition with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The poll was conducted by political consultant Yossi Tatika of Tatika Research & Media in collaboration with the Adgenda panel managed by Roy Schindler. It was conducted on June 24 and 25, and included 500 Jewish and Arab respondents. The maximum margin of sampling error is 4.4%.