Eight seats are expected in the upcoming Knesset following a merger of Hadash-Ta’al with Balad, according to the data from a News 13 poll published yesterday (Wednesday, August 5). If former head of the Investigations and Intelligence Division of the Israeli police, MK Yoav Segalovitz (Yesh Atid) joins the Islamist Ra’am party, the list could receive 7 seats. Furthermore, if the elections were held today – ‘Yashar!’ led by Gadi Eisenkot would be the largest party with 23 seats. Likud drops to 22, and Naftali Bennett’s party maintains 13 seats.
The chairman of the Hadash list for the Knesset, Dr. Yousef Jabareen, at the Hadash-Ta’al faction weekly meeting in the Knesset, July 6, 2026 (Photo: Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
According to the poll, Liberman’s Yisrael Beiteinu strengthens by one mandate to 11, as does Yair Golan’s “The Democrats,” (former Labor and Meretz parties) which also receives 11 mandates. Racist Otzma Yehudit led by Itamar Ben Gvir secures 9 mandates, United Torah Judaism has 8, and Shas records a second consecutive week with 7 mandates. Hadash-Ta’al receives 6 mandates, while racist Religious Zionism and Ra’am each secure 5. Below the electoral threshold in this poll are the lists of Chili Tropper and Yoaz Hendel, Balad, and Blue and White led by MK Benny Gantz. Additionally, on the question of suitability for Prime Minister, Eisenkot leads with 46% compared to 36% for incumbent far-right Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
In addition, Hadash-Ta’al and Ra’am factions, which poll between 10 and 16 seats had completely vanished from TV screens throughout the entire month of July. This emerges from a review published yesterday by Chen Agari on “The Seventh Eye” website. During the entire month, only a single interview was conducted, on Channel 12’s “Meet the Press” with Ra’am chairman, MK Mansour Abbas.
According to Agari, “this finding is not surprising; it aligns with the negative trend observed in ‘The Seventh Eye’s’ Representation Index since the October 7th war and fits the incitement campaign led by Netanyahu and his political partners against Arab elected officials. A campaign that the television channels, unfortunately, cooperate with in a variety of ways.” The mainstream Israeli media continues to favor members of the far-right coalition, providing them with more extensive platforming and media exposure than opposition members (62% compared to 38%).
