i24NEWS poll: Likud slips to 25 seats as Ben-Gvir’s party reaches double digits

Likud has lost ground but remains the largest party in a new i24NEWS poll published Sunday, nine days before Israel’s elections, while Itamar Ben-Gvir’s Otzma Yehudit has reached double digits for the first time in the channel’s polling. The survey, conducted by Direct Polls projects 25 seats for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud, down two from last week. Gadi Eisenkot’s Yashar remains unchanged at 21 seats, followed by Naftali Bennett’s Together party with 13. Otzma Yehudit gains one seat to reach 10. The Democrats remain steady at nine seats, while United Torah Judaism holds at eight. The Joint List and Shas each gain one seat, bringing both parties to eight. Avigdor Lieberman’s Yisrael Beiteinu falls by one seat to six. Religious Zionism, Zehut and Ra’am remain unchanged at six seats each. Ofer Winter’s Amcha Yisrael remains below the electoral threshold, slipping to 2.9% of the vote. The Reservists list and the Economic Party also fall short, polling at 2.4% each. Tzeva Shachor, Blue and White, the ultra-Orthodox public list, Noam LeYisrael and Achi each receive less than 1%. The results leave the governing coalition’s bloc with 57 seats, four short of the 61 needed for a Knesset majority. Opposition parties hold 49 seats, while the Arab parties account for the remaining 14. The poll comes amid a series of interviews with Netanyahu and increasingly sharp exchanges both between and within the political blocs. Direct Polls conducted the survey for i24NEWS on October 18, 2026, using a digital system combined with a polling panel. It surveyed 525 adults aged 18 and over, described as a representative sample of Israel’s adult population. The reported margin of sampling error is ±4.2 percentage points at a 95% confidence level. Suggested articles Netanyahu and Eisenkot fall, while Bennett rises | i24NEWS Poll | i24NEWS From loss to leadership: October 7 families who entered Israel’s election race | Danna Avni Blank ballots deadlock Hamas Gaza leadership election | Yuval Barnea