A new Channel 13 poll broadcast Wednesday evening shows Gadi Eisenkot's party gaining three seats and opening a lead over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to the survey.
A new Channel 13 poll broadcast Wednesday evening, published at 20:28 Jerusalem, shows opposition MK Gadi Eisenkot's party gaining three seats to reach 26 mandates, opening a three-seat lead over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud at 23. The full breakdown, released at the same time, places Bezalel Smotrich's Religious Zionism party at 5 seats, while the Tropper-Hendel faction, Moshe Erdan's list, and Benny Gantz's party all fall below the electoral threshold. The opposition bloc totals 59 mandates against 51 for the pro-Netanyahu coalition, according to the survey by Moriah Asraf and Doron Kadosh.
This latest poll marks a significant escalation in Eisenkot's surge. Only one day earlier, a Kan 11 survey published Tuesday at 20:53 Jerusalem showed Eisenkot at 21 seats, overtaking Naftali Bennett (17) for the first time, while Likud held 23. The Channel 13 result therefore represents a net gain of five seats for Eisenkot in 24 hours, opening a lead over Netanyahu that previous polls had not shown. The thread also follows a pattern documented since June: an N12 poll on Thursday Jun 18, published at 21:35 Jerusalem, had Eisenkot overtaking Bennett and closing to within one seat of Likud; media reports on Friday Jun 26 crowned him as the opposition's candidate for prime minister.
As The Zioneer has reported across multiple surveys, Eisenkot's political standing has undergone a dramatic surge since mid-2026. A Channel 14 poll broadcast Tuesday Aug 18 showed Bennett crashing to 6 seats and the right-wing bloc reaching 63 mandates. Earlier Wednesday Jul 1, a Channel 13 poll had shown Bennett recovering ground while Eisenkot widened his gap with Netanyahu. The steady upward trajectory for Eisenkot, a former IDF chief of staff, has been attributed by analysts to his security-focused platform and calls for a state commission of inquiry into the October 7 failures.
The broadcast excerpt that formed the initial report did not include full seat totals for all parties beyond Eisenkot, Likud, and the comparison to the previous poll. The detailed breakdown, including Smotrich's 5 seats and the bloc totals, was provided in subsequent Channel 13 segments published at the same 20:28 timestamp.
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