Israeli poll: Eisenkot leads Netanyahu by 12 points
Amman3 min read
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A poll published by Israel's Channel 12 on Monday, 8 days before the elections, showed a widening gap between the camps of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and "Yashar" party leader Gadi Eisenkot, as the opposition camp received 55 seats for Zionist parties, compared to 51 seats for the ruling coalition parties, while Eisenkot led in preferences for prime minister with 45 percent compared to 33 percent for Netanyahu.
According to the poll, which was conducted before the elections scheduled for October 27, the "Yashar" party led by Gadi Eisenkot would receive 24 seats in the Knesset elections, while the "Likud" party led by Benjamin Netanyahu would receive 21 seats.
The "Ma'an" party led by Naftali Bennett would receive 14 seats, and the "Democrats" party led by Yair Golan would receive 9 seats, the same result achieved by the "Joint Arab List" led by Yousef Jabareen, which is increasing its tally to this number for the first time.
In the rest of the results, the Haredi "Shas" party led by Aryeh Deri would receive 8 seats, the same number received by both the "Yisrael Beiteinu" party led by Avigdor Lieberman and the "Otzma Yehudit" party led by Itamar Ben-Gvir.
The Haredi "United Torah Judaism" party led by Yaakov Asher would also receive 7 seats, the same number received by the "Religious Zionism and Identity" list led by Bezalel Smotrich and Moshe Feiglin, while the United Arab List led by Mansour Abbas would receive 5 seats.
According to the poll, the total for the camp opposing Netanyahu rises by two seats compared to the previous poll, reaching 69 seats, including 55 for Zionist parties and 14 for Arab parties, compared to 51 seats for the ruling coalition parties.
What was known as the "Third Camp" has disappeared from the seat distribution map, after the "Reserve Soldiers-Economic" list, led by Yoaz Hendel and Yaron Zelekha, fell below the threshold required to enter the Knesset.
In a question about the most suitable person to assume the premiership, Eisenkot received the support of 45 percent compared to 33 percent for Netanyahu, widening the gap between them to 12 percentage points, compared to 10 points in the previous poll.
In another comparison, Bennett received the support of 39 percent compared to 34 percent for Netanyahu, while 22 percent said that neither of them was suitable for the position, and 5 percent answered that they did not know.
The poll also addressed the impact of US President Donald Trump's announcement of his public support for Netanyahu in the elections; 12 percent said the announcement strengthened their support for the "Likud" party, while 17 percent stated it reduced the likelihood of them voting for the party, and 64 percent said it would not affect their vote.
The Israeli elections are scheduled to be held on October 27, amid competition between Netanyahu's camp and the opposition parties, in light of the continued political division over the future of governance.
The Israeli Prime Minister admitted on Sunday that he was not confident of winning the elections and was "very worried," as forming an Israeli government requires obtaining the confidence of at least 61 deputies out of 120 in the Knesset (parliament).
Netanyahu has headed the current government since late 2022, while the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant against him on November 21, 2024, on suspicion of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity against Palestinians in Gaza.
Netanyahu has also been on trial in Israel since 2020 on corruption charges including bribery, fraud, and breach of trust, accusations he denies.
