Khaled Yousef
19 June 2026•Update: 19 June 2026
Israel’s opposition would be able to form a government if elections were held today, securing 61 seats in the 120-member Knesset, compared with 49 seats for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ruling bloc, according to a new opinion poll published Friday.
The survey, conducted by the Lazar Research Institute in cooperation with the Israeli daily Maariv between June 17 and 18, sampled 501 respondents and had a margin of error of approximately 4.4%.
According to the poll, opposition parties would win 61 seats, giving them the minimum majority required to form a government, while Netanyahu’s coalition would secure 49 seats.
Arab parties would collectively win 10 seats, the survey found.
The poll also showed continued gains for the opposition Yashar party led by former Israeli military chief Gadi Eisenkot, which climbed to 21 seats, tying Netanyahu’s ruling Likud party.
Likud has lost seven seats in recent polling, according to Maariv, while former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s Together party has dropped by 11 seats since the alliance was announced in April.
A previous Maariv poll published last Friday showed Likud’s support at 22 seats, its lowest level in nearly a year and the party’s weakest showing since August 2025, when it polled 21 seats.
The newspaper noted that the latest findings were particularly notable because the far-right Religious Zionism party, led by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, cleared the electoral threshold and was projected to win four seats.
The poll was released amid regional developments following the signing earlier this week of a 14-point US-Iran agreement aimed at ending the war between the two sides.
The text of the agreement, published by Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, states that Iran, the US and their allies commit to the immediate and permanent cessation of military operations on all fronts, including Lebanon, and pledge not to initiate wars or military operations against one another.
It also includes commitments to refrain from the threat or use of force, guarantee Lebanon’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and pursue a permanent end to hostilities on all fronts in a final agreement.
However, members of the Israeli government, particularly far-right ministers, have rejected linking the Iran agreement to ending military operations in Lebanon or making security concessions, insisting on maintaining Israel’s military presence in southern Lebanon and continuing military operations there.
*Writing by Mohammad Sio in Istanbul
