The first poll published ahead of the Knesset elections on October 27 projected Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s political bloc to win 52 seats. The result put Netanyahu’s bloc five seats behind the opposition excluding Arab parties.
A party needs 61 seats to form a government in the 120-seat Knesset. A Channel 12 poll projected the opposition excluding Arab parties to win 57 seats and Arab parties 11, bringing the total held by parties outside Netanyahu’s bloc to 68 seats. However, none of the major blocs would surpass the threshold required to form a government on its own.
Yashar leads the poll
The poll, conducted after political parties submitted their candidate lists for the election, placed former army chief of staff Gadi Eisenkot’s Yashar party in first place with a projection of 25 seats. Netanyahu’s Likud party came second with a projection of 21 seats.
Former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s Together party was projected to win 13 seats, while the Democrats were projected to win 10 and Yisrael Beiteinu 9.
Projections for other parties
- United Torah Judaism Party: 8 seats
- Shas: 7 seats
- Otzma Yehudit: 6 seats
- Religious Zionism and Amkha Yisrael: 5 seats each
The poll projected Arab parties to win a combined 11 seats. The United List was expected to take 7 of those seats and the United Arab List 4.
Most leaders of Jewish parties do not accept relying on Arab lawmakers to form a government. This position makes forming a coalition difficult even though parties outside Netanyahu’s bloc would reach 68 seats.
Thirty-eight parties submit candidate lists
A total of 38 parties submitted candidate lists to participate in the election. Current polls project that approximately 13 parties could enter parliament.
Walla reported that the poll was conducted by the Lazar Research Institute among 506 Israelis. No margin of error was provided in the published results.
