With polls still projecting deadlock, Gadi Eisenkot touts immigration plans while Likud list takes shape

The latest Israeli pre-election polls show little change, with the opposition bloc maintaining a slight advantage but neither side projected to secure a clear majority ahead of the October elections.

This week, Gadi Eisenkot’s “Yashar” party, which has emerged as a frontrunner in most polls, began presenting detailed plans for its potential government, while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party began voting in decisive primary elections that will shape its election slate and are expected to significantly influence the party’s performance on election day.

According to the latest poll by Israel's Kan News, Likud and Yashar are head-to-head with 23 seats after Likud dropped by one.

However, regarding personal suitability for prime minister, Eisenkot overtook Netanyahu again, leading with 41% to 36%, which reverses the previous poll results. The margin between Netanyahu and "Together" party leader Naftali Bennett also narrowed, as they each received 37% and 35% of the vote, respectively.

Overall, the coalition bloc fell by one seat to 52, while the opposition bloc rose by one to 57. The group of center-right parties – including Chili Tropper and Yoaz Hendel’s "Zionist Home" party – the newly named “The Unity” party led by Gilad Erdan and Yuli Edelstein, and Benny Gantz’s Blue and White party all failed to cross the threshold.

🔴Opposition Bloc: 57 (+1)
🔵Netanyahu Bloc: 52 (-1)
🟢Hadash-Ta'al & Ra'am: 11 https://t.co/3PFpLrji1w

— Israel Elects (@israel_elects) August 16, 2026

Meanwhile, Yashar, which expects to lead the future government, began presenting detailed plans for increasing immigration and rehabilitating northern Israel this week.

According to a statement, its immigration plan envisions the absorption of two million olim (new immigrants) by 2048 and seeks to make their integration “simpler, more accessible, and more effective.”

The plan would establish a unified framework bringing together support in areas ranging from language and education to access to rights. Proposed measures include reducing barriers to the recognition of international degrees in Israel, offering more language courses focused on professional and practical Hebrew, and making essential services more accessible in different languages.

“We will propose a national plan that will call on young people to return home and on Jews around the world to make aliyah to Israel, because this is our national home, and this is the country that should be the most advanced and leading in the world,” Eisenkot said.

According to a Ynet News report, Eisenkot will also reveal a large-scale plan for rehabilitating northern Israel on Monday, at a total cost of NIS 15 billion ($5.08 billion)

This would include a budget of NIS 6 billion ($2.03 billion) to restore defensive infrastructure for towns and communities, as well as an investment of about NIS 9 billion ($3.05 billion) across various sectors, particularly industry, agriculture, education, health, and tourism.

“The next government will be judged in the north – not by the number of statements, but by the results on the ground. First and foremost, by restoring full security to the residents, but also through the civilian response: completed protective infrastructure, families who have returned home, businesses that have reopened, infrastructure that has been built, and trust that has been restored,” Eisenkot said.

Meanwhile, the Likud party began its primary elections on Monday. Netanyahu had reportedly sought to exert as much influence as possible over the party’s candidate list by securing the maximum number of reserved slots, amid fears that Likud members could elevate controversial figures who might hurt the party’s chances in October.

Over the past few years, several senior party officials have become popular among party members and right-wing voters by taking hardline positions on issues such as judicial reform and publicly criticizing left-wing groups and government opponents, while potentially alienating the centrist voter base that Likud, as a big-tent party, has traditionally sought to appeal to.

This is exemplified by Knesset Member Tally Gotliv, who is highly popular among Likud members but has alienated large parts of the voting public through repeated outbursts in the Knesset chamber, contentious media interviews and highly publicized behavior in courtrooms.

Netanyahu reportedly tried to prevent Gotliv from receiving a high spot on the list.

Likud voters were asked to name their top 3 choices for the next Knesset. The most popular:

1) Gotliv: 39%
2)Ohana: 25%
3) I. Katz: 18%
4) Barkat: 18%
5) Regev: 15%
6) Chikli: 13%
7) Saada: 12%
8) Levin: 11.5%
9) Dichter: 11%
10) Zohar: 10.5%

via Midgam/Chan12, Aug.13

— Israel Elects (@israel_elects) August 16, 2026

However, according to several polls, Gotliv remains one of the most popular lawmakers among Likud members.

Meanwhile, a Kan poll among party members showed that some 60% of respondents want to see pro-Israel activist Yoseph Haddad receive one of Netanyahu’s reserved spots. The Jerusalem Post reported Sunday that Haddad has registered a new party and is negotiating with several figures who could join him; however, this doesn’t mean he won't end up in one of Netanyahu’s reserved spots regardless.

A spokesperson for Haddad said that he is in contact with controversial, hawkish retired IDF Brig.-Gen. Ofer Winter, while the newspaper reported several months ago that he was in talks with former deputy mayor of Jerusalem, Fleur Hassan-Nahoum.

“Yoseph Haddad hasn’t hidden that he’s considering entering politics and has recently been weighing his options,” his spokesperson told the JPost, adding, “At the same time, he’s been holding discussions and meetings with various figures to examine his possible next steps.”

Knesset Seat Poll w. Hadash-Ta'al-Balad merger & Segalovitz joining Ra'am as Abbas' #2

🔴Yashar: 22 (-1)
🔵Likud: 20 (-1)
🔴Together: 13 (-1)
🔴Democrats: 10
🔴Yisrael Beteinu: 10
🟢Hadsah-Ta'al-Balad: 8 (+2)
🔵UTJ: 8
🔵Otzma: 8
🔵Shas: 7
🟢Ra'am: 6 (+1)
🔵RZP: 4
🔴Zionist Home:…

— Israel Elects (@israel_elects) August 14, 2026

In February, a Midgam Institute survey showed significant support for a party led by Haddad, projecting him to receive four Knesset seats – more than the whole slate of center-right parties currently struggling to cross the threshold.

Meanwhile, the new far-left party “A Place For Us All” (Makom LeKulanu), founded as a “truly” Jewish-Arab party by the leaders of the "Standing Together" movement, announced that a familiar figure on the Israeli left had joined them.

Former Knesset Speaker Avraham Burg will attempt a political comeback in the new party, 22 years after leaving his Knesset seat for the "Labor" party at the time. He had subsequently joined the Jewish-Arab communist "Hadash" party.

“The past four years – the judicial overhaul, October 7, the wars that followed, the corruption, and the collapse of everything that is precious to what Israelis share in common—have been four traumatic years,” Burg told Ynet.

“Some people are coming to their senses, some have become indifferent, some are leaving the country, and some, like me, are standing up in opposition and saying: the alternative to all these ills is the far, far left.”

Burg recently returned to headlines when appearing on anti-Israel activist Tucker Carlson’s podcast, telling him that Israel had “no strategy” in the Iran war, and describing the Israeli mindset as a “zero-sum game,” in which, “I want to win alone. I want you to be dead. I want to humiliate you; I want to cancel you.”