Netanyahu’s Likud slips further as path to governing majority narrows: Poll

• Survey showed Likud losing 1 seat compared with last week’s poll, leaving it with 20 of Knesset’s 120 seats if elections were held today

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party has continued to lose support, while his chances of forming a government remain uncertain ahead of elections scheduled for October, according to a poll released Sunday.

The survey, published by the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation KAN, showed Likud losing one seat compared with last week’s poll, leaving it with 20 of the Knesset’s 120 seats if elections were held today.

Despite Likud’s decline, Netanyahu’s bloc retained 52 seats but remained nine short of the 61 needed to form a government, the poll showed.

The political landscape was further complicated by a new alliance between politician Yoaz Hendel and economist Yaron Zelekha, which crossed the electoral threshold and secured four seats.

The alliance is not currently aligned with either of Israel’s main political blocs.

Even if Hendel and Zelekha joined Netanyahu’s camp, the bloc would hold only 56 seats, leaving it five short of a parliamentary majority.

The findings therefore offered Netanyahu no path to forming a government based solely on his existing allies, even with the hypothetical support of the new alliance.

The opposition bloc led by former military chief Gadi Eisenkot, meanwhile, secured 51 seats, down from 55 in last week’s survey.

The Kantar Institute conducted the poll among 551 Israelis aged 18 and above, including Arab citizens. It had a margin of error of 4.2 percentage points.

The findings come ahead of Israel’s general election scheduled for Oct. 27, amid intensifying competition over the composition of political blocs and the premiership.