For the first time since he founded his party: The data from the Israel Hayom and Dudi Hasid poll published today (Thursday) shows that Gadi Eisenkot will receive 20 seats.
This makes Bennett and Lapid's Togetherness party the second largest in the left bloc - receiving 19 seats. This is a decrease of three seats from the previous poll, which went directly to competitor Gadi Eisenkot.
Eisenkot's demand from a few weeks ago for the party leaders to sign a demand that the prime minister be the one to head the largest party in the bloc is turning out to be a brilliant strategic move.
Alongside this turnaround, Likud receives 24 seats, meaning it drops by one seat - which apparently went to Eizenkot - while Bezalel Smotrich keeps his head above water with four stable seats since the previous poll.
Also in the poll: The Democrats, Shas, Yisrael Beiteinu and Otzma Yehudit - with 9 seats each party, United Torah Judaism with 7, Hadash Taal with 6 seats and Ra'am with 4.
Divided into blocs: the coalition bloc receives 53 seats, the left bloc 57, and the Arabs 10.
Meanwhile, Gilad Erdan, who has not yet made a final decision, is groping his way through the political system. This poll predicts that he, in conjunction with Ayelet Shaked and Yuli Edelstein, will win no less than six seats, coming at the expense of Likud and Smotrich, but also from Eisenkot and Lieberman.
In that case, this right-wing faction could complement the left bloc 61.
A decision on running in the format considered in the poll has not yet been made and will likely only be made near the submission of the lists, but both Erdan, Shaked, and Edelstein would prefer to force a unity government and not complete the 61-seat mandate for any of the blocs.
Israel Hayom notes that in the previous poll by Dudi Hasid two weeks ago, those who won those six seats that are changing the political map were Hili Tropper and Gilad Erdan. In other words, there are six seats on the fence who are looking for a political home, and have not yet settled on a final address.
This time, the survey also examined small parties and parties on the way, but none of them passed the threshold: from Ya'az Hendel, through Moshe Feiglin, the Fourth Quarter and El Degel. The message behind the scenes of all these small parties, which are in the center below the threshold along with Benny Gantz, is connections.
Only in a situation of great connection between small players due to the high blocking percentage will we see new members in the next Knesset.
