total-- : --time0:0002:09 PM • August 03 2026 IDTGadi Eisenkot "hasn't finished his rise" in the polls after his party, Yashar, has overtaken Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud Party for several weeks in a row, while the potential coalition of opposition parties is soaring past that of the current government, said Haaretz columnist Dahlia Scheindlin, speaking on the Haaretz Podcast.Scheindlin, a veteran political strategist and analyst, noted that even the right-wing pollsters, who are heavily biased in favor of Netanyahu's coalition, are showing numbers that point to "a decline ever since the ceasefire and the war with Iran," reflecting perceptions among supporters who once "saw him as a great global statesperson."The podcast panel, including Haaretz correspondent Nagham Zbeedat and host Allison Kaplan Sommer, reviewed the noteworthy political events of the past week, most prominently the intriguing news that could shake up the coalition mathematics: the Arab Islamist Ra'am Party's plans to invite a former senior police officer and centrist Jewish politician to claim the number two position on its list."Having a Jewish Israeli politician join an Arab party, especially an Islamist political party," would represent a "significant milestone," Zbeedat said, predicting that the move would boost support for Ra'am and increase the chances that an anti-Netanyahu coalition would invite the party into a coalition, which could well be its key to winning power.Zbeedat herself, however, is not lending her vote to Ra'am or any other political party. She explained on the podcast why, like many other Palestinian citizens of Israel, she chooses not to participate in elections. She does not believe, she said, in taking part in a "performance" of democracy and granting "legitimacy" to a government that "enables the daily occupation struggles" and "doesn't accept my existence."In the NewsCould a Jewish Politician Joining an Islamist Party Shake Up Israel's Election?Boy George Cedes 'Jesus Christ Superstar' Role After Releasing pro-Israel SongHow Israel's Elbit Armed the United Arab Emirates'I See Myself as a Social Worker for Hundreds of Haifa's Abandoned Buildings'Residents Fear Speaking Out Against Haredi Extremists. Can They Save Their City?Remembering and rebuilding two years laterICYMIThis Israeli ultra-Orthodox Feminist Activist Has a Warning for U.S. JewsNetanyahu Says Israel Has 'Special Forces' Ready if He's Arrested on NY VisitTwo Female Israeli Soldiers Die by Suicide as IDF Mental Health Crisis DeepensDozens of IDF Soldiers Desert Sde Teiman Base in Protest of Commander'I Tried, I Got Crushed by AIPAC': Andy Levin Is All-in for El-SayedTrump's Irritation, Netanyahu's Desperation: Oval Office Smiles Mask Rifts