A new poll was released Thursday evening, April 9, showed far-right Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party losing votes on the heels of the temporary ceasefire with Iran. In the Channel 13 poll, Likud dropped by three to 22 seats; Otzma Yehudit and Religious Zionism each picked up one seat, scoring ten and five seats, respectively; and Shas and ultra-orthodox UTJ both held steady with ten and seven seats, respectively, giving Netanyahu’s coalition a total of 54 seats.

“Stop the War”, MK Aida Touma-Sliman during a demonstration against the ongoing wars in Iran and Lebanon in Haifa , March 14, 2026 (Photo: Zo Haderekh)

In the Zionist opposition bloc, the right-wing former prime minister Naftali Bennett’s party, tentatively called “Bennett 2026,” rose by three seats, picking up 21, and The Democrats (Labor and former Meretz) rose by one, picking up eight seats, while Yashar and Yesh Atid each lost one seat, scoring 12 and six seats, respectively. Yisrael Beytenu stayed steady at eight seats, while Blue and White again failed to pass the electoral threshold, giving the Zionist opposition parties a total of 55 seats. In addition, Hadash-Ta’al would win six seats, down from seven last week, and Islamist Ra’am would hold steady at five.

Channel 13 also asked respondents how they would vote if Hadash and three Arab parties, Ra’am, Ta’al and Balad, ran together as the Joint List, as they have done in the past. In such a scenario, the Joint List would become the third largest parliamentary faction, with sixteen seats. Likud would shrink to 20 and Religious Zionism would rise to six, giving Netanyahu’s coalition a total of 53 seats, and Bennett’s party would shrink to 20 while Yashar Eisenkot’s and Democrats Golan’s parties would drop to eleven and seven, respectively, giving the Zionist opposition bloc a total of 51 seats. Hadash and the Arab parties pledged earlier this year to work to reestablish the Joint List, with little signs of progress.

According to Hadash MK Aida Touma-Sliman, “Netanyahu is in real trouble, and he thinks he has to wreck the ceasefire to get out of it, just as he did previously in Gaza,” told Al Jazeera. Touma Sliman, which opposed the imperialist war from the start, added, “The ceasefire has lost him a lot of support, even among those who backed the war. None of his war aims have been achieved and it looks like he is losing control to the Trump administration.”

“Don’t forget, we’re heading towards elections,” she said referring to the vote currently slated for October, “and Netanyahu’s dropping in the polls. He needs something he can claim to be a victory.” “And that’s why he did what he did,” she said, of Wednesday’s barrage on busy Lebanese neighborhoods that killed hundreds, including women, children and medical workers. “He conducted a massacre in Lebanon.”

Related: https://maki.org.il/en/?p=33356