{
  "id": 6056164,
  "title": "Hendel-Zelekha crosses electoral threshold in new KAN poll, complicating coalition possibilities",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/06/hendel-zelekha-crosses-electoral-threshold-in-new-kan-poll",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-09-06T23:10:25.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Jerusalem Post",
    "slug": "jerusalem-post",
    "url": "https://www.jpost.com/israel-election-2026/article-907760"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Yoaz Hendel from the Unity Party and Prof. Yaron Zelekha would enter Parliament with four seats in the upcoming election, according to a recent KAN News poll. This comes after a split between Chili Tropper and Hendel, who announced that they were pursuing \"separate political paths.\" The party they both belong to, Zionist Home-The Reservists, has typically fallen short of the electoral threshold.\n\nHendel and Zelekha's party is expected to cross the threshold, leaving neither the Netanyahu bloc nor the Eisenkot bloc with enough seats to form a government independently. The poll projects the Netanyahu bloc with 56 seats and the Eisenkot bloc with 55 seats, both falling short of the required 61 seats. This could force both sides to seek additional coalition partners following the election.\n\nThe poll also showed a decline in seats for Likud, Yeshar, B Yachad, the Democrats, Otzma Yehudit, United Torah Judaism, and the Joint Arab List. Raam and the Religious Zionist Party, however, gained strength, each securing six seats. Eisenkot continues to lead Netanyahu and Bennett in suitability for prime minister, with 38% of respondents considering Eisenkot more suitable than Netanyahu (35%). Sixty-two percent rated Netanyahu's conduct on October 7 as \"not good,\" while 26% deemed it \"good.\" The poll was conducted by the Kantar Institute on September 6, 2026, with a margin of error of plus or minus 4.2%.",
  "summary": "Hendel and Zelekha’s projected Knesset entry would leave both Netanyahu’s and Eisenkot’s blocs short of the 61 seats needed to form a government, forcing them to seek additional coalition partners.",
  "key_points": [
    "Yoaz Hendel and Yaron Zelekha will enter Parliament with four seats each.",
    "Zionist Home-The Reservists party expected to cross electoral threshold.",
    "Poll shows Netanyahu bloc and Eisenkot bloc short of forming government alone."
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}