Poll: Eisenkot Gains Strength as Likud Remains Leading Despite Decline

SadaNews - A public opinion poll conducted in Israel on Thursday showed that the Likud party, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, maintains a lead over the alliance of former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and opposition leader Yair Lapid if elections were held today, although it has declined by two seats. According to the results published by Israeli Channel 12, if elections for the Knesset were held today, Likud would secure 23 seats, down two seats from the previous poll conducted by the channel, and just one seat ahead of "Biyhad" - the alliance of Bennett and Lapid, which would secure 22 seats. The distribution of seats according to the poll results is as follows: - Likud: 23 seats. - "Biyhad" (Bennett and Lapid alliance): 22 seats. - "Yeshar": 17 seats. - "Democrats" (Labor and Meretz alliance): 11 seats. - "Yisrael Beiteinu": 9 seats. - "Shas": 8 seats. - "Yahadut HaTorah": 8 seats. - "Otzmat Yehudit": 8 seats. - Joint Front and Arab Change Alliance: 5 seats. - United List: 5 seats. - "Religious Zionism": 4 seats. Neither "Kahol Lavan" led by Benny Gantz nor the party led by Yoaz Hendel, which relies on a base of reserve soldiers, surpasses the electoral threshold. What if Eisenkot joins Bennett and Lapid? According to the survey, an alliance including "Biyhad" and "Yeshar" led by former IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot would secure 38 seats in an election held today, an increase of one seat from the previous poll by the same channel. However, when looking at the two parties' lists separately, they would earn 39 seats; 22 for "Biyhad" and 17 for "Yeshar". The results of the poll with Eisenkot joining Bennett and Lapid are as follows: - Alliance of "Biyhad" with "Yeshar": 38 seats. - Likud: 23 seats. - "Democrats": 11 seats. - "Yisrael Beiteinu": 10 seats. - "Shas": 8 seats. - "Yahadut HaTorah": 8 seats. - "Otzmat Yehudit": 8 seats. - Joint Front and Arab Change Alliance: 5 seats. - United List: 5 seats. - "Religious Zionism": 4 seats. Suitability for the Prime Ministership Participants in the poll were asked who would be more suitable for the position of Prime Minister, with Netanyahu outperforming his competitors. In a comparison between Netanyahu and Bennett, Netanyahu received 39% support from participants, compared to 34% for Bennett. In a comparison between Netanyahu and Eisenkot, according to SadaNews, Netanyahu received 38%, while Eisenkot got 34%. In a comparison between Netanyahu and Lieberman, 39% of participants supported Netanyahu, while only 21% saw Lieberman as the more suitable candidate. In a comparison between Eisenkot and Bennett, the former earned 45% of opposition voters, while Bennett received 36%, with 11% of participants saying that "someone else" should hold the position, and 8% saying they "don't know."