At a crucial political moment preceding the elections expected within months, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu found himself facing a new indication of the erosion of his political position, after a recent poll showed the decline in the popularity of his Likud party to its lowest level since August 2025, against the rise of prominent competitors.
According to a poll published by the Israeli newspaper Maariv on Friday, the Likud Party lost 3 seats compared to the previous poll, falling to 22 seats in the Knesset (Parliament), consisting of 120 seats. This is the lowest number for the party in about a year.
This decline comes in light of mounting political pressure on Netanyahu and his coalition, most notably the controversy over a draft law excluding religious Jews (Haredim) from military service, in addition to statements by US President Donald Trump that raised questions about Netanyahu’s political future.
In an interview with ABC last Wednesday, Trump said that he did not know whether Netanyahu wanted to run in the upcoming elections, adding that he had “made an amazing career,” but at the same time he pointed out that he was a “wartime prime minister.”
The term of the current Knesset ends in October, with elections expected to be held in September or October.
The rise of Eisenkot and Bennett
Despite Likud’s decline, the poll showed a continuing state of political stagnation, with parties supporting Netanyahu obtaining only 50 seats, compared to 60 seats for opposition Jewish parties, and 10 seats for Arab parties.
Any camp needs at least 61 seats to form a government, but most Jewish opposition parties refuse to partner with Arab parties to form a government coalition.
Within the opposition, the poll showed a remarkable rise for former Israeli Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot, after the representation of his Yashar party rose to 20 seats, while the “Ma’an” party led by former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett declined to 21 seats, losing two seats.
Thus, the party scene is approaching a three-way race for the top spot in the Knesset between the Likud Party with 22 seats, the Ma’an Party with 21 seats, and the Yashar Party with 20 seats, an indication of the deepening division within the Israeli political arena.
Eisenkot, who served as Chief of Staff between February 2015 and January 2019, is considered one of the most prominent security figures to have entered Israeli politics in recent years.
Eisenkot opposes the imposition of full Israeli sovereignty over the occupied West Bank, considering that this step may lead to the reality of a bi-national state, but at the same time he rejects the establishment of a Palestinian state at the current stage.
As for Bennett, he is a former soldier who participated in the occupation wars in the West Bank and Lebanon. He was known for his extremist rhetoric towards the Palestinians and his strong opposition to the establishment of an independent Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, in addition to his adoption of pro-settlement positions.
Netanyahu is behind his rivals
In a question about voting for the Knesset if the elections were held today, the results were as follows: Likud 22 seats, Ma’an 21, Yashar 20, Democrats 10, Yisrael Beytenu 9, Otzma Yehudit 9, Shas 8, United Torah Judaism 7, Hadash Ta’al 6, and Ra’am 4. And “religious Zionism” 4.
As for the “Blue and White”, “Balad” and “Reserves” parties, they did not obtain, according to the poll, a percentage of votes that would qualify them to enter the Knesset.
The decline is not limited to the party level, as the results of the poll showed that Netanyahu faces direct competition for the position of prime minister. Eisenkot was ahead of him by 44% compared to 40%, and Bennett was ahead by 43% compared to 39% for Netanyahu.
On the other hand, Netanyahu is still ahead of the leader of the “Israel Our Home” party, Avigdor Lieberman, by 41% compared to 37%, but the difference between them has clearly narrowed after it was much wider in the previous poll.
On the other hand, the poll showed that 50% of Israelis believe that Trump will act in a way that serves Israeli interests in the war with Iran, compared to 43% who do not trust him in this issue, while 7% said that they do not know their position.
The survey was conducted by the Lazar Research Institute from June 10 to 11, and included a sample of 500 Israeli Jews and Arabs, aged 18 and over.
Source: The island + Israeli press + Agencies
