Daijiworld Media Network – Jerusalem

Jerusalem, Jul 10: Former Israeli military chief Gadi Eisenkot's newly formed Yashar party has emerged as the largest political party in a new opinion poll, overtaking Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud for the first time.

According to the Maariv poll released on Friday, Yashar secured 22 seats, up from 20 in the previous survey, while Likud remained unchanged at 21 seats in the 120-member Knesset.

The alliance led by former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and opposition leader Yair Lapid, known as Together, slipped by one seat to 18.

The poll indicated that Netanyahu's governing bloc would secure 49 seats, well short of the 61-seat majority required to form a government. The Arab parties retained a combined 11 seats.

Among other parties, Yisrael Beytenu and The Democrats were projected to win 10 seats each, while Otzma Yehudit, Shas, and United Torah Judaism were forecast to secure eight seats apiece. Hadash-Ta'al was projected to win six seats, Ra'am five, and the Religious Zionist Party four seats.

The survey also examined possible alliance scenarios. If Bennett's Together party were to merge with Yashar under Bennett's leadership, the combined party would win 35 seats, while Netanyahu's bloc would decline to 48 seats.

In another scenario, where Eisenkot leads the merged opposition alliance, the joint list would secure 39 seats. Combined with support from a separate party led by former minister Chili Tropper and reservist leader Yoaz Hendel, the opposition would command 63 seats, comfortably crossing the majority mark.

The poll also found that Eisenkot continued to hold an advantage over Netanyahu in public preference for the post of prime minister, leading by 48 per cent to 40 per cent. Bennett also maintained a narrow lead over Netanyahu, 43 per cent to 41 per cent.

The survey was conducted by Lazar Research in collaboration with Panel4All between July 8 and 9 among 500 respondents, with a margin of error of 4.4 per cent.