Eisenkot leads Netanyahu in four polls, but neither bloc secures Knesset majority - poll

With just nine days left until the election, Gadi Eisenkot's Yashar party has maintained a consistent lead over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud in four recent election polls, but neither political bloc comes close to securing the 61 seats needed for a Knesset majority, according to surveys published by Maariv, Channel 13, Kan News, and Channel 12.The four surveys paint an almost identical picture: the Zionist opposition averages 51.25 seats, compared with 51 for Netanyahu's bloc, a virtual tie that leaves the Arab parties and smaller factions hovering around the electoral threshold in key positions ahead of election day.Maariv poll: Winter below electoral threshold, Eisenkot leadsThe Maariv poll shows the Arab parties each gained one seat over the past week, bringing their combined total to 14 seats. By contrast, Likud has lost two seats, falling to just 18.Despite Likud's two-seat decline, the coalition bloc loses only one seat, dropping to 51. This follows United Torah Judaism's gain of one seat, bringing it to eight, and People of Israel's success in crossing the electoral threshold with four seats.However, Yisrael Beytenu also lost one seat, falling to eight, which reduced the Zionist opposition bloc to 51 and tied the two blocs.Channel 13 poll: Netanyahu bloc loses four seatsChannel 13's election poll gives Netanyahu's bloc just 51 seats, compared with 55 in the previous survey. Likud dropped two seats to 18, while Eisenkot's Yashar party maintained its lead with 20 seats.Eisenkot's bloc remains unchanged at 50 seats. The Arab parties, which are not affiliated with either bloc, receive a combined 15 seats.KAN News poll: Winter fails to cross electoral threshold, Bennett gains a seatA poll published by KAN News showed that Eisenkot's Yashar party continued to lead Netanyahu's Likud, although the distribution of seats between the political blocs gives Netanyahu the advantage.At the bottom of the list of parties crossing the electoral threshold are People of Israel, which receives four seats, and the joint Reservists/Economic Party led by Yoaz Hendel and Yaron Zelekha, which also received four seats.The key finding in the survey concerns the balance between the blocs. Netanyahu's bloc receives 53 seats, compared with 50 for Eisenkot's bloc, giving the political camp aligned with the prime minister a three-seat advantage.Channel 12 poll: Eisenkot leads Netanyahu, People of Israel remains outChannel 12's poll placed Eisenkot's Yashar party in first place with 23 seats, compared with 20 for Likud under Netanyahu.Winter's People of Israel fell below the electoral threshold, receiving 1.8% of the vote.Meanwhile, the balance between the blocs remained unchanged, with 54 seats for the opposition parties, 49 for the coalition, and 13 for the Arab parties. Hendel and Zelekha's party received four seats.Polling average: Eisenkot holds narrow lead, blocs remain virtually tiedThe average of the four polls presented an almost symmetrical picture of the two political blocs. The opposition averages 51.25 seats, compared with 51 for Netanyahu's bloc.In other words, among the Zionist parties, neither side has a decisive advantage.The gap widens when the Arab parties are included. They average 13.75 seats, while the Hendel-Zelekha party stood at four seats and remained outside the two-bloc division.Together, the Zionist opposition and the Arab parties average 65 seats.Eisenkot also holds an advantage among the largest parties. Yashar averages 21.5 seats, compared with Likud's 19, while Bennett trails significantly with 12.5.The overall picture is of an extremely close election within the Zionist political camps, in which the Arab parties and smaller factions could become decisive factors.The average is based on the distribution of Knesset seats in four separate polls and does not constitute a new survey or a forecast of the election results.