Israeli Politicsupdated 1h ago2 min read
Israeli Opposition Leads Netanyahu Bloc By 18 Seats, Channel 12 Poll Shows
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Opposition bloc projected to win 67 seats to Netanyahu bloc's 49. Gadi Eisenkot's Yashar party projected as largest with about 23 seats.
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Poll Shows Opposition Lead
Israeli opposition parties led Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s bloc by 18 seats ahead of elections scheduled for Oct. 27, according to a Channel 12 survey published Monday.
The poll projected 67 of the Knesset’s 120 seats for parties opposed to Netanyahu, compared with 49 for his ruling coalition, and it said a parliamentary majority of at least 61 seats was required to form a government.
Gadi Eisenkot’s Yashar party led the suitability for prime minister matchup, with Eisenkot leading Netanyahu 45%-35%, and the poll projected Eisenkot’s party at 23 seats while Likud held 20 seats.
The poll also projected 54 seats for Zionist parties opposed to Netanyahu and 13 for Arab parties, while it projected a “third bloc” would secure four seats.
The poll projected the Joint List, led by Yousef Jabareen, at eight seats, matching Aryeh Deri’s ultra-Orthodox Shas party and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir’s Jewish Power party.
Eisenkot Challenges Netanyahu
Gadi Eisenkot told Army Radio that, after three years of war, “in my eyes, the prime minister is not fit to carry out another operation,” accusing Netanyahu of failing to achieve the war’s goals. Eisenkot said he was unaware of any “critical” development that would justify an immediate US-Israeli strike on Iran, while he argued a renewed campaign would be justified only if Iran were making a break for a nuclear weapon. Eisenkot also framed the election as a bid to replace “the most horrible government since the country’s founding” and to form a “national Zionist coalition” with 63 or 64 seats.
The Times of Israel reported that Eisenkot said he does not trust the surveys, adding that voters “cannot bring themselves” to support Netanyahu’s government, which he called a “criminal gang.” Eisenkot said he recalled joining Netanyahu’s war cabinet at the start of the war and seeing “what it means when a leader and leadership is thrown off its balance.”
Debate Over Government Math
A Channel 12 poll described by Anadolu Ajansı projected that opposition parties would win 67 seats against 49 for Netanyahu’s ruling coalition, while it also projected 54 seats for Zionist parties opposed to Netanyahu and 13 for Arab parties. Haaretz reported that the Channel 12 poll projected Eisenkot’s bloc at 54 seats and Netanyahu’s bloc at 49 seats, and it said the Arab parties would win a combined 13 seats. The Haaretz poll said some parties in Eisenkot’s bloc refuse to cooperate with the Arab parties, leaving the bloc without a parliamentary majority.
“A parliamentary majority of at least 61 seats is required to form a government.”
The Anadolu Ajansı poll said a parliamentary majority of at least 61 seats was required to form a government, and it projected around 8% of respondents had yet to decide whom they would vote for. The Haaretz poll also said Amcha Yisrael, with 1.8 percent, and Blue and White, with 0.9 percent, would both fall short of the 3.25 percent electoral threshold.