Amid a brief round with Iran, which ended in a "hand-tying" by US President Donald Trump, who also said he is unsure whether Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will run in the upcoming elections, as well as the coalition’s accelerated legislation promoting a law equating Torah students with IDF service members, the Likud party is dropping this week by three seats to just 22, according to a Maariv poll published on Friday.
This is Likud’s lowest figure since August 2025, when it received 21 seats in a Maariv poll. However, the coalition bloc maintained its strength from last week at 50 seats, after the Religious Zionism party again passed the electoral threshold. The Zionist opposition bloc remained at 60 seats, and the Arab parties received an additional 10 seats.
In the opposition, Gadi Eisenkot’s strengthening trend continued, with his party Yashar! jumping three seats this week to a record 20. Conversely, the Together party, led by Naftali Bennett, fell by two seats to 21. In effect, a three-way race has emerged for the title of the largest party among Likud, Together, and Yashar! Drama is intensifying in the opposition bloc, with the gap narrowing between Together and Yashar!
In response to the question, “If elections for the Knesset were held today, which party would you vote for?” the answers were: Likud 22, Together 21, Yashar! 20, the Democrats 10, Yisrael Beytenu 9, Otzma Yehudit 9, Shas 8, United Torah Judaism 7, Hadash-Ta’al 6, Ra’am 4, Religious Zionists 4.
Blue and White (1.9%), Balad (2%), and the Reservists (1.7%) did not pass the threshold.
Bennett, Eisenkot beating Netanyahu for PM in poll
The poll also showed that Bennett leads Netanyahu in a hypothetical prime minister match-up, 43% to 39%.
Eisenkot widened his lead over Netanyahu with 44% compared to 40% for Netanyahu.
Against Avigdor Lieberman, Netanyahu leads 41% to 37%, but the gap has narrowed significantly from the previous poll, where Netanyahu led the Yisrael Beytenu chairman by a double-digit margin (48% to 29%).
The survey found that half of Israelis (50%) believe Trump will act in Israel’s interests in the confrontation with Iran, while 43% have low or no trust in him on this issue, and 7% are unsure.