Likud and Yashar Tie at 23 Seats in New Election Poll

Hebrew and English reports on a July 5 Kan/Kantar survey say Likud and Gadi Eisenkot's Yashar each stand at 23 seats, the first tie at the top in this campaign cycle. Bennett-Lapid's Together holds 16, while Democrats, Otzma Yehudit and Yisrael Beytenu get 9 each; Shas and United Torah Judaism get 8 each; Hadash-Ta'al gets 6, Religious Zionism 5 and Ra'am 4. The current coalition has 53 seats, with Zionist opposition parties at 57 and Arab parties at 10. The poll also puts Eisenkot narrowly ahead of Netanyahu for prime-minister suitability, 41% to 40%, making the campaign a clear test of security leadership and a stable right-religious path to 61.