Lieberman overtakes Bennett for the first time: Global bettors are deciding the elections
Two and a half months ago, former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett led the betting tables with the highest odds for the 2026 premiership, but since then he has seen a sharp decline, reaching a low of only 5%, while Lieberman has overtaken him for the first time. Who is the leading candidate?
The world's largest betting platform, Polymarket, continues to place former IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot at the top of the list as the candidate with the highest odds for the premiership in the 2026 elections. Former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, who previously led the list, is experiencing a sharp decline.
According to data from Monday, Gadi Eisenkot is securely at 52%, and since the middle of last month, he has been leading by a significant margin over other candidates. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stands at 34%. Following him, for the first time, is Yisrael Beiteinu chairman Avigdor Lieberman with 6%, and after him is Naftali Bennett with only 5%.
Naftali Bennett led the list during May with 39%, when he first overtook Benjamin Netanyahu and was the leading candidate for the premiership, but since the end of May, he has been sliding down the betting tables.
A new name that appeared on the list is Gilad Erdan, who recently established a new party together with Yuli Edelstein, and global bettors give him 1% odds for the premiership. The rest of the candidates have less than 1%. The volume of bets on Polymarket regarding the premiership in Israel stands at 31.4 million dollars.
According to a mandate poll conducted on Sunday by Kan 11, Likud remains the largest party with 24 mandates. Gadi Eisenkot's Yashar! party maintains its strength with 23 mandates, while Naftali Bennett's party holds 13 mandates. The remaining results: The Democrats - 10, Yisrael Beiteinu - 10, Otzma Yehudit - 8, Shas - 8, United Torah Judaism - 8, Ra'am - 6, Hadash-Ta'al - 5, Religious Zionism - 5.
