Among 301 Jewish first-time voter respondents ages 18 to 22 surveyed by Channel 12 before Israel’s Tuesday election, 74% identified as right or center-right, while the top party choices were separated by two points.
Midgam conducted the online survey from Sept. 15 to 22, with 301 responses from 1,521 people invited. Channel 12 said the poll used stratified sampling followed by random sampling within each group and had a maximum sampling error of ±4.4 percentage points.
Alongside the 74% who identified as right or center-right, 23% identified as left or center-left. Those categories total 97%; Channel 12 did not explain the remaining 3%. The findings describe how respondents characterized themselves, not how all young Israelis will vote.
In the hypothetical party-choice question, Yashar received 16%, Likud 14% and B’yachad 10%. The two-point difference between Yashar and Likud is smaller than the poll’s stated maximum sampling error, so the figures do not establish a clear lead. Channel 12 also reported that 67% of the adult public identified as right or center-right and 33% as left or center-left, but did not give that comparison’s sample size, field dates or method.
The Israel Democracy Institute (IDI) conducted a separate survey in May of 576 first-time voter respondents ages 18 to 22, including Jewish and Arab respondents. IDI reported that 80% to 95% in each group it reported thought they would vote or were certain they would; more than 80% of the overall sample said voting was meaningful. Security and the cost of living were the leading issues respondents wanted the government to address.
IDI also found that 62% of its respondents were fairly or very interested in politics, while 58% named digital social media as their main source of information. Its survey did not measure the same left-right identification, so it offers context on participation and priorities rather than a comparison of political views. The Channel 12 poll is a single survey and does not establish a long-term generational shift. The Central Elections Committee lists Tuesday, Oct. 27, as election day.
