New Poll: 52-52 Tie, Hendel Becomes Kingmaker

A new poll conducted by pollster Dudi Hasid and released Monday night presents a fascinating political picture: Gadi Eisenkot's "Yashar" party leads with 24 mandates, while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud receives 20 seats. But the survey's central finding is the perfect deadlock between the two political blocs.

According to the poll results, Netanyahu's bloc stands at exactly 52 mandates, and the bloc aligned with Eisenkot also reaches 52 seats. In such a scenario, the four mandates of Yoaz Hendel's "Reservists and Economic" party remain outside both blocs and could transform him into an especially significant player in coalition negotiations.

Naftali Bennett's "Yachad" party receives 12 mandates, while the "Democrats" party wins 8 seats. "Otzma Yehudit" also receives 8 mandates, as does Avigdor Lieberman's "Yisrael Beiteinu."

Among the haredi parties, United Torah Judaism and Shas each win 7 mandates. The Haredi Public party is deep below the electoral threshold.

The Joint List receives 7 mandates, and the "Religious Zionism" party wins 6 seats. Ra'am, led by Mansour Abbas, receives 5 mandates, and Ofer Winter's "Amcha Yisrael" party wins 4 seats.

The new survey presents a somewhat different picture from previous polls released in recent weeks. A Kan News poll published a week ago gave Netanyahu's bloc a one-mandate advantage over Eisenkot's bloc, with Likud receiving 20 mandates and Yashar 23. In that poll, the joint list of Hendel and Yaron Zelekha received 4 mandates.

A Channel 12 News poll released several days ago gave Yashar 25 mandates and Likud 21, with Winter's party receiving 5 mandates and Hendel's party failing to cross the threshold. Hasid's new survey thus presents a picture of complete parity between the blocs, with Hendel crossing the threshold and potentially becoming the decisive factor.