Eisenkot's leads Netanyahu as Winter, Hendel, Zelekha may not cross electoral threshold - poll

In a recent poll, Gadi Eisenkot's Yashar party leads with 23 seats, marking a one-seat decrease from the previous survey. Channel 13's poll, published simultaneously, placed Yashar first but awarded only 20 seats. In both polls, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party secured second place with 19 seats, trailing Yashar. Neither poll indicated either bloc would achieve a clear majority.

The opposition bloc, led by Yashar, remained ahead of Netanyahu's bloc in N12's projection, forecasting 55 seats for the opposition and 51 for Netanyahu. Conversely, Channel 13's poll showed Yashar gaining one seat to 52 seats, while Likud lost one seat to 49.

The success of Ofer Winter's People of Israel party and Yoaz Hendel and Yaron Zelekha's Reservists-Economic party in crossing the 3.25% electoral threshold could impact the seat distribution. Former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett's B Yachad party maintained its 14 seats, while the Democratic Party, led by Yair Golan, gained a seat to reach 10.

In N12, the Democratic Party remained at nine seats, while B Yachad gained one seat to 15, its highest performance in months. Avigdor Liberman's Yisrael Beytenu and Itamar Ben-Gvir's Otzma Yehudit each held eight and seven seats, respectively. Shas, led by Arye Deri, received eight seats in N12 but seven in Channel 13, while United Torah Judaism, led by Yakov Asher, received seven seats in N12 but eight in Channel 13.

The Religious Zionist Party (RZP) and Zehut rose to eight seats in Channel 13, while the Joint List, comprising Hadash, Ta al, and Balad, remained stable at nine seats in both polls. Mansour Abbas's Ra am was reported at five seats in N12 and six in Channel 13.

N12's poll found People of Israel and Reservists-Economic parties crossing the electoral threshold, while Channel 13's poll had Reservists-Economic parties retaining their four seats and People of Israel falling below the threshold. Shmuel Rosner, a pollster for The Madad and Channel 13 News, discussed how the results could affect seat distribution.

If neither party crosses the threshold, eight seats could be redistributed among other parties. Alternatively, if one party fails while the other crosses, four seats would be reallocated, significantly impacting the balance between the blocs.