Yashar! leader Gadi Eisenkot leads Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud in two final polls ahead of Tuesday’s Knesset election, but neither survey projects a non-Arab bloc with a majority.
Channel 13’s Oct. 23 poll gave Yashar! 22 seats, compared with 19 for Likud. It placed 54 seats with Eisenkot’s bloc, 50 with Netanyahu’s and 16 with Arab parties. Channel 12 published its poll the same day, after fieldwork on Oct. 22-23; it projected 23 seats for Yashar!, 21 for Likud, 56 for the “change” bloc, 50 for Netanyahu’s coalition and 14 for Arab-led parties. Channel 12 surveyed 1,018 respondents and cited a maximum sampling error of 4.4 percentage points. Channel 13 surveyed 1,875 and reported a 2.3-point sampling error.
The seat estimates do not determine who will govern. Israeli voters choose party lists for the 120-member Knesset. The Central Elections Committee says a list needs at least 3.25% of valid votes to qualify for seats, while the Associated Press says a majority requires 61 lawmakers.
The Associated Press reported that Netanyahu and Eisenkot have each ruled out bringing Arab-led parties into their coalitions. The AP said those parties could still back a minority government without formally joining it. Ra’am’s entry into a governing coalition in 2021 marked the first such participation by an Arab-led party, the AP reported.
Yashar! proposes expanding national-service programs to ultra-Orthodox and Arab communities. The party says people who serve should receive preference for housing support, tax relief and other benefits. Its platform also proposes a State Commission of Inquiry into the Oct. 7 attack, the period before it and decisions made during the war.
The Central Elections Committee lists voting for Tuesday, Oct. 27. Coalition formation will follow the election.
