Gadi Eisenkot widens lead over Benjamin Netanyahu as Likud hits lowest polling since June 2025

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud has polled at its lowest since June 2025, reaching just 20 seats, according to a Maariv poll published Friday.By contrast, Yashar, led by former IDF chief of staff Gadi Eisenkot, gained one seat, reaching a record high of 23, opening a three-seat lead over Likud.The poll also found that former prime minister Naftali Bennett's Together gained one seat to reach 17, while Yisrael Beytenu also rose by one seat to 10.Yair Golan's Democrats remained unchanged at 11 seats following the party's primaries.Within the coalition, Itamar Ben-Gvir's Otzma Yehudit gained one seat, reaching eight, matching haredi parties, Shas and United Torah Judaism, both of which remained unchanged. Bezalel Smotrich's Religious Zionist Party also gained one seat, rising to five.As a result of the shifts, the opposition bloc lost one seat but retained a majority of 61 seats. Overall, Netanyahu's coalition strengthened to 49 seats, while the Arab parties remained stable with 10 seats.Yesodot Israel, the party led by Chili Tropper and Yoaz Hendel, failed to cross the electoral threshold this week, receiving only 2.9% of the vote. Balad also remained below the threshold with 1.7%, as did Benny Gantz's Blue and White with 1.6%.Did Bennett, Lapid's decision to merge alter voting intentions?The poll also examined how current Together voters intended to vote before the Bennett-Yair Lapid alliance was formed. Of the party's projected 17 seats, 10 come from people who already intended to vote for Naftali Bennett in the 2026 election, five from Yesh Atid voters, and two from voters who had planned to support other parties before the alliance was established.The survey further found that nearly half of voters from the Zionist opposition parties, 46%, believe Bennett and Lapid should continue running together despite the alliance's standing in the polls. Thirty-one percent said they should part ways, while 23% said they did not know.A majority of Zionist opposition voters, 57%, also believe Tropper and Hendel should join one of the existing parties. Nineteen percent said they should continue running independently, while 24% were undecided.According to the poll, if Tropper and Hendel were to join Yashar, the party would rise to 27 seats, equivalent to the combined strength of the parties running separately, further widening its lead over Likud.Such a move would come at the expense of Together, which would fall to 14 seats, but it would not alter the balance between the blocs: the Zionist opposition would retain 61 seats, Netanyahu's coalition would hold 49, and the Arab parties would remain at 10.Bennett leads Netanyahu as most suitable prime minister candidate, poll findsThe Maariv poll also found that Bennett leads Netanyahu in suitability for prime minister, with 45% support compared with Netanyahu's 42%.The gap is virtually unchanged from the previous poll conducted at the beginning of July. Eisenkot leads Netanyahu by six percentage points, 46% to 40%, a two-point narrowing from the previous survey. In a head-to-head comparison between Eisenkot and Bennett, the gap also remained largely unchanged, with Eisenkot receiving 38% support and Bennett 23%.The poll by Lazar Research, headed by Dr. Menachem Lazar, in cooperation with the Panele4ALL online panel. The poll was conducted on July 22-23 among 500 respondents representing a representative sample of Israel's adult population aged 18 and over, including both Jewish and Arab respondents. The maximum margin of sampling error was 4.4%.