In first since October 7: Likud regains position as largest party

 

For the first time since the start of the war against Hamas on October 7, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party has overtaken the MK Benny Gantz's National Unity, regaining its position as the largest in the Knesset.

According to a new poll by Lazar Research for Maariv, if elections were held today, the Likud party would win 22 Knesset seats, followed closely by National Unity with 20 seats.

Third-largest in the Knesset would be Yisrael Beytenu with 15 seats, followed by Yesh Atid with 13 seats.

Among the smaller parties, Sephardic-haredi Shas and Otzma Yehudit would win 10 seats each, while the "Democrats" (Labor and Meretz) would win nine seats. Ashkenazic-haredi United Torah Judaism (UTJ) would win seven seats.

The Knesset's Arab parties, Hadash-Ta'al and Ra'am (United Arab List), would win five seats each, followed by Religious Zionism with four seats.

Divided into blocs, the current coalition parties would win 53 seats, while the center-left parties would win 57 seats. The remaining 10 seats are held by the Arab parties, which traditionally do not join any coalition.