Eisenkot Leads Netanyahu in PM Preference Poll Ahead of Israeli Elections

(MENAFN) Former Israeli army Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot has taken the lead over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a poll measuring public preference for the country’s next leader, securing 43% support compared with Netanyahu’s 38%. However, Netanyahu’s political bloc remains short of the seats needed to form a parliamentary majority.

The survey, published on Sunday by Israel’s public broadcaster, projected that Eisenkot’s Yashar party would win 22 seats in the 120-member Knesset, while Netanyahu’s Likud party would secure 20 seats, marking a decline of one seat from the previous week’s survey.

With elections scheduled for October 27, Netanyahu’s bloc was projected to gain two seats, bringing its total to 53. This would leave the coalition eight seats short of the 61 required to form a government.

Eisenkot’s bloc was forecast to obtain 50 seats, while parties considered outside the two main political camps were expected to collectively win the remaining 17 seats.

Arab political lists were projected to secure a combined 13 seats, with the Joint List expected to win eight and the United Arab List, also known as Ra’am and led by Mansour Abbas, forecast to obtain five.

Among parties aligned with Netanyahu, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir’s Jewish Power party was projected to win nine seats. United Torah Judaism was expected to receive eight seats, while Shas was forecast to secure seven. The Religious Zionism–Zehut alliance was projected to obtain five seats.

The survey indicates that although Eisenkot leads Netanyahu in the direct preference question, neither of the two political blocs is currently projected to reach the parliamentary threshold required to govern independently.

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