Poll shows Israeli opposition within reach of majority as Netanyahu bloc falls to 47 seats

Israel’s opposition could secure a parliamentary majority if a new party led by Yoaz Hendel joins its bloc, while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s allies would win just 47 seats, according to a new poll published Tuesday, Anadolu reports.

The survey, conducted by the private Lazar Research Institute and published by Israeli daily Maariv, projects 57 seats for the opposition parties and four for a new party led by Hendel and economist Yaron Zelekha.

If the Hendel-Zelekha party joins the opposition, the bloc would reach 61 seats, the minimum threshold needed to form a government in Israel’s 120-member Knesset.

Hendel and Zelekha have not yet indicated which political bloc they would support if their party enters parliament.

Maariv said Netanyahu’s bloc lost ground after the far-right Amcha Yisrael party, led by Ofer Winter, failed to win any seats.

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The poll projects 25 seats for Yashar, led by Gadi Eisenkot, making it the largest party in the Knesset. Naftali Bennett’s Together party would win 13 seats, followed by Yair Golan’s Democrats with 10 and Avigdor Lieberman’s Yisrael Beiteinu with nine.

Together, the four opposition parties would hold 57 seats.

Netanyahu’s Likud would win 20 seats, followed by Itamar Ben-Gvir’s Otzma Yehudit with eight, according to the poll. The religious parties United Torah Judaism and Shas would each secure seven seats, while Bezalel Smotrich’s Religious Zionism would win five.

The Joint List would take seven seats and the United Arab List, led by Mansour Abbas, five.

The Hendel- Zelekha alliance’s projected four seats could therefore determine whether the opposition reaches a governing majority.

The poll surveyed a random sample of 600 Israelis and had a margin of error of 4 percentage points.

​​​​​​​The results come ahead of Israel’s general election scheduled for Oct. 27. Political parties submitted their candidate lists Monday, ahead of Tuesday’s deadline.

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