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Gadi Eisenkot, Israel's former military chief, leads Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu 43% to 38% in a head-to-head question on who is better suited to serve as prime minister, according to a poll published Sunday by Israeli public broadcaster KAN.
The survey, conducted ahead of elections scheduled for Oct. 27, projected Eisenkot’s Yashar party to win 22 seats in the 120-member Knesset, compared with 20 for Netanyahu’s Likud.
Netanyahu’s bloc gained two seats from the previous KAN poll to reach 53, still eight short of the 61-seat majority needed to form a government. Eisenkot’s bloc was projected at 50 seats, while 17 seats went to parties classified by the poll as outside both camps.
KAN projected 12 seats for Naftali Bennett’s Beyachad party and eight for the Democrats.
Within Netanyahu’s bloc, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir’s Jewish Power party was projected to win nine seats, United Torah Judaism eight and Shas seven.
The Religious Zionism-Zehut alliance was projected at five seats, down from six in the previous poll.
Amcha Yisrael, led by former Brig. Gen. Ofer Winter, crossed the electoral threshold with four seats after failing to do so in the previous survey.
Yisrael Beiteinu was projected to fall from nine seats to eight, while the Reservists and Economic Party led by Yoaz Hendel and Yaron Zelekha remained at four.
Arab parties were projected to win a combined 13 seats, including eight for the Joint List and five for the United Arab List, or Ra’am, led by Mansour Abbas.
The poll showed that Blue and White, the Haredi Public party led by Moti Leitner, the AHI party led by Rabbi Abergel and Tzeva Shahor Magen Olam HaTorah led by Eliyahu Boymerind would not cross the electoral threshold.
In other head-to-head comparisons, Netanyahu led Bennett 40% to 36% on suitability for prime minister.
When Eisenkot was matched against Bennett, 35% chose Eisenkot and 22% Bennett, while 43% said neither was suitable.
The survey also found that 30% of respondents had not yet decided which party they would support. Among respondents who said they planned to vote for coalition parties, 24% remained undecided, compared with 20% among opposition voters.
Twenty-six percent of respondents said they planned to vote for a party from a different bloc than the one they backed in the previous election.
The poll also found that 21% were considering not voting, including 23% of coalition supporters and 16% of opposition supporters.
KAN said 54% of respondents supported holding a televised debate between Netanyahu and Eisenkot before the election.
Support included 38% of intended Likud voters and 80% of respondents planning to vote for Yashar.
The poll also asked about Winter’s statement that he would join only a Netanyahu-led coalition. Overall, 24% said they believed him, 39% said they did not and 37% were unsure.
Among coalition voters, 27% believed Winter’s statement and 39% did not, while 44% of opposition voters said they did not believe him.
Respondents were also asked about Yair Golan’s statement that killing Iran’s late leader Ali Khamenei had been a mistake because it did not serve Israel’s interests.
Fourteen percent agreed with the statement, 60% disagreed and 26% said they did not know. Among coalition voters, 4% agreed, compared with 24% of opposition voters.
The poll indicated that neither Netanyahu’s bloc nor the Jewish opposition bloc would have enough seats on its own to form a government.
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