Full Breakdown
Likud Leads Pre-Election Polls Amid Growing Concerns Over Election Integrity
8/10/2026, 10:56:58 AM
Likud Regains Lead in Pre-Election Polls
A KAN poll shows Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party at 24 seats, one more than the new Yashar! party led by former chief-of-staff Gadi Eisenkot, which stands at 23 seats. The same poll places the Democrats at 10 seats, Yisrael Beyteinu at 10 seats, and B’Yachad at 13 seats.
A “poll of polls” compiled by Globes reports Likud at 25 seats and Yashar! at 23 seats. The opposition bloc excluding Arab parties is shown at 56 seats, while Arab parties (Ra’am and the Hadash-Ta’al alliance) total eleven seats.
Background & Context
The election, scheduled for October 27, will decide whether Netanyahu’s coalition, which has pursued judicial reforms since 2021, retains power. Netanyahu is simultaneously on trial for corruption and seeks to defer an independent inquiry into the 2023 Hamas-led incursions. Ongoing conflicts in Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon, Yemen, Syria and Iran dominate the political discourse.
Data & Statistics
- Public concern about election integrity: an Israel Democracy Institute poll finds ?75 % of Jewish Israelis view the vote as potentially compromised; 43 % remain optimistic about democratic rule.
- Israeli Voice Index (July 2026): 72 % of Jewish Israelis and 58.5 % of Arab Israelis believe there is a danger to election integrity. Support for the inclusion of Ra’am (led by Mansour Abbas) in a future government is low, with 61 % of Jewish and 60 % of Arab respondents opposing it.
- Opposition to recent laws: more than half of respondents reject each of three controversial statutes—halting arrests of deserters (67 % oppose), gender-segregation in higher education, and the attorney-general law.
- Perceptions of settler violence: 46 % of Jewish Israelis think security forces are too lenient, while 27 % think they are too harsh; among Arab Israelis, 54 % share the “too lenient” view.
Official Statements & Responses
President Isaac Herzog warned that the campaign must not “cross red lines” and urged candidates not to turn rivals into enemies.
MK Ofer Cassif (Hadash) described a climate of “anti-government activists… arrested” and warned of potential suppression of voting in areas with large Palestinian-citizen populations.
MK Avichay Buaron called the appointment of Dean Livne as acting head of the Central Elections Committee “clearly politically biased.”
Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli said Livne’s appointment casts “a heavy shadow” over the election’s integrity.
Verbatim Quotes
- “I turn to elected representatives, activists and all candidates from all parties, and demand that you do not cross red lines. Do not turn rivals into enemies,” — Isaac Herzog
- “We’re seeing anti-government activists, and not just Palestinians, but Israelis being arrested and even judges harassed by far-right pro-government militias.” — Ofer Cassif
Conflicting Reports & Gaps
What’s Next
The decisive vote will occur on October 27, when Israelis will choose the composition of the 120-member Knesset and the next prime minister.
