As the Israeli election campaign progresses, scheduled for October 27, and with polls indicating an increased likelihood of defeat for the right led by Benjamin Netanyahu, political rhetoric is heating up and hatred is replacing normal competition, becoming more intense and crude, even inciting violence against active candidates. Left-wing Knesset member Naama Lazimi warned of political assassinations after she herself was incited against by Deputy Knesset Speaker Nissim Vaturi, who said she 'deserves to be a representative of the Palestinian Hamas movement because she is hostile to Israel.'

Israeli Knesset member Naama Lazimi (X)

Lazimi is a young, effective legislator with a strong presence in the field, considered one of the most active members of the Knesset, and enjoys cross-party support, not just from her left-wing party. She responded to the attack by saying: 'The government has put a target on my back. My blood has been shed, and these words are an explicit call for my assassination. After I was assaulted by police and received a threat from Justice Minister Yariv Levin to shoot me in the legs, Vaturi came to compare me to Hamas.'

Netanyahu and his people have set a target on my back. The government of shirkers and failure is inviting the next political murder. Our blood is on their hands. This government has set a target on my back, it started with political police beating me in the streets in violation of immunity, continued with a justice minister who threatened me and a Knesset member who called to shoot me in the legs only a week... pic.twitter.com/wzwSZgJF5L

— Naama Lazimi - נעמה לזימי (@naamalazimi) July 9, 2026

She continued: 'I know their goal is to intimidate me to deter me from activity, but I will continue my fight to topple this criminal corrupt government and replace it with a balanced and sensible government.'

Incitement against Arabs

Arab lawmakers have also faced racist incitement from right-wing lawmakers, accused of being 'Hamas agents' or 'helpers of Palestinian terrorist nationalism.'

According to sources in Likud, Netanyahu is planning to wage a legal battle to disqualify a number of Arab lawmakers and remove at least one of their parties.

Those sources said that Netanyahu's associates have begun compiling a criminal file against the United Arab List led by Mansour Abbas, on the grounds that he had ties with Hamas, and they claim to have documentary photos of Abbas's own meetings with Hamas leaders in Turkey.

Mansour Abbas, head of the United Arab List (right), signing a government coalition agreement with Yair Lapid (left) and Naftali Bennett in Ramat Gan near Tel Aviv - June 2021 (AFP)

These moves from the right come amid extreme tension in the right-wing government generally, and around Netanyahu especially, due to poll results that consistently show that all their efforts are not helping them rise from the mud. They all indicate that they will lose power. They are already rejecting this loss, and observers do not rule out that Netanyahu will follow the path of US President Donald Trump, who did not accept defeat in the 2019 election and whose supporters tried to prevent Democratic lawmakers from entering Congress.

Eisenkot Takes the Lead

The latest poll, published in Tel Aviv on Wednesday evening - Thursday on Channel 13 of Israeli television, indicated that the 'Yashar' party led by General Gadi Eisenkot tops the seat map, ahead of Likud, and that Eisenkot leads Netanyahu even on the question of suitability to be prime minister.

According to the Channel 13 poll, Eisenkot's party, a new party, gets 23 seats, placing first, while Likud drops to second with 22 seats, noting that it currently has 36 seats in the Knesset. The 'BeYachad' party led by former prime ministers Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid comes in third with 15 seats, down two seats from last week.

Netanyahu delivers a speech in the Knesset (Archival - EPA)

The poll gives both 'Yisrael Beiteinu' led by Avigdor Lieberman and 'The Democrats' led by Yair Golan 10 seats each, while Shas, 'Yahadut HaTorah,' and 'Otzma Yehudit' (Itamar Ben-Gvir's party) get 8 seats each.

According to the poll, the 'Hadash' and 'Arab Change' list gets 6 seats, the United Arab List gets 5 seats, the same result given to the 'Religious Zionism' party led by Bezalel Smotrich. A hypothetical joint list including Hili Tropper and Yoaz Hendel, as well as 'Kahol Lavan' led by Benny Gantz, does not cross the electoral threshold.

In total, the poll results indicate that the Netanyahu camp, if Likud, Shas, Yahadut HaTorah, Otzma Yehudit, and Religious Zionism are counted together, reaches only 51 seats, far from the 61-seat majority needed to form a government.

In contrast, the results give the Yashar party, Bennett's party, Yisrael Beiteinu, and the Democrats together 58 seats, not counting the two Arab lists: Hadash and Arab Change, and the United Arab List, which together get 11 seats.

Netanyahu and his allies Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir alongside Israel Katz attend a debate in a plenary session at the Knesset (Archival - Reuters)

In response to the question: Who is the most suitable politician to be prime minister? The results showed Eisenkot leading Netanyahu by a clear margin; 46 percent of poll participants said Eisenkot is most suitable for prime minister, compared to 36 percent who said Netanyahu is most suitable.

The poll also examined a coalition scenario within the party map. In this scenario, a joint list comprising Hadash, Arab Change, and the National Democratic Assembly gets 9 seats, while the United Arab List drops to 4 seats. Thus, the strength of Arab parties in this scenario rises to about 13 seats. In this scenario, the strength of Netanyahu's coalition drops to 49 seats, while the camp of parties opposing Netanyahu remains unchanged at 58 seats, and the Arab parties are positioned in the center with 13 seats.

These polls reinforce the right-wing parties' focus on working against Arab and left-wing parties, as they are a decisive element in thwarting him and bringing down his government.