The latest opinion poll revealed that former Chief of Staff of the Israeli army, Gadi Eisenkot, has widened the gap with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, bringing his party closer to the top of the Israeli Knesset, while the Likud party continues to lose seats.

Yesh Atid's Lead Over Likud

The new opinion poll conducted by the Lazar Research Institute for the newspaper "Maariv" showed that the "Yesh Atid" party, led by Eisenkot, is set to gain 26 seats in the Knesset, an increase of three seats compared to a poll conducted last week, while the Likud party has dropped one seat to 20 seats.

This advancement of "Yesh Atid" comes at a time when "Likud," under Netanyahu's leadership, has been making headlines this week due to the party's primary elections.

Despite the decline of Likud in the latest opinion poll, the number of seats for the ruling coalition bloc has increased by one seat, reaching 49, thanks to the rise of the "Otzma Yehudit" and "Religious Zionism" parties.

Formation of a Government Coalition

In contrast, the opposition bloc continued its rise, securing 60 seats, just one seat short of the majority needed to form a government coalition, which is set at 61 seats.

The Reserve Party (the Zionist Home) only received 2.9% of the votes and did not surpass the electoral threshold, following a series of polls in which it won four seats.

Among the other parties that did not exceed the threshold are: the New Party led by Ofer Winter, the Unity Party led by Gilad Erdan, the New Economic Party led by Yaron Zelekha, and the Blue and White Party led by Benny Gantz.

According to the "Jerusalem Post," these parties collectively currently waste 8.3% of voters' votes, equivalent to about 10 seats in the Knesset.

Arab Parties

It was noted that there is an equation stating that the higher the voting rate of Arab citizens in Israel, the lower the chances of the right-wing in governance.

Based on this equation, three Arab parties engaged in intensive negotiations over several months, culminating in an agreement for unity on Wednesday evening.

The Democratic Front for Peace and Equality, the National Democratic Assembly, and the Arab Movement for Change announced their agreement to run in the Israeli general elections with a united list.

The Israeli general elections will take place on October 27, and they are considered crucial for the survival of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's camp in power.

In this regard, the newspaper pointed out that the poll was conducted shortly before the announcement of the merger of the three Arab parties, noting that these parties received 11 seats according to the results of the new poll.

The Strongest Opponent Concerns Netanyahu

Eisenkot has widened his lead over Netanyahu in the suitability question for the position of Prime Minister, recording a record difference of 14 percentage points. The former Chief of Staff of the Israeli army received support from 52% of participants, compared to 38% for Netanyahu.

As for former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, the difference between him and Netanyahu was similar to the previous poll, with Bennett receiving 45% compared to 41% for Netanyahu.

In contrast, Netanyahu maintained a slight lead over Avigdor Lieberman, with 42% compared to 39%, respectively.

Netanyahu's Son Enters the Scene

The poll showed that voters of coalition parties are more inclined to oppose Netanyahu's decision to allocate a spot for his son Yair on the Likud list in the Knesset elections.

40% of coalition voters said they oppose the move, while 34% support it, and 26% did not express an opinion on the matter.

Among the results described by the "Jerusalem Post" as "concerning," is that half of Israelis fear that the loser will reject the election results. In contrast, 38% said they do not fear such a scenario, while 12% responded that they do not know.