By Pesach Benson • September 17, 2026
Jerusalem, 17 September, 2026 (TPS-IL) — Gadi Eisenkot’s Yashar! party won Thursday’s mock election at Blich High School in Ramat Gan, an annual political simulation that has attracted national attention for its past parallels with Israeli election results.
Yashar! received 32.2% of the vote among 11th- and 12th-grade students, followed by former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s Beyachad with 22.4%. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud came third with 15.5%.
The Blich exercise is part of the school’s civics curriculum and is designed to give students practical experience with Israel’s democratic system. In the weeks before Thursday’s vote, students studied the political system, heard from representatives of participating parties, held classroom discussions and cast their ballots.
The event has attracted national attention since the school’s 1977 mock election, which anticipated the result of that year’s national election, when Menachem Begin’s Likud ended decades of Labor-led rule. Blich’s mock election has since become a recurring event on the Israeli political calendar, attracting politicians seeking to engage with young voters.
Among the other parties, Itamar Ben-Gvir’s Otzma Yehudit received 9.4%, while Yair Golan’s Democrats received 7.1%. Avigdor Liberman’s Yisrael Beiteinu took 4.8%, followed by Ofer Winter’s Amcha Yisrael with 3.6%. The Reservists-Economic party received 2.8%, while Religious Zionism won 1.6%.
Ra’am received 0.4% and Blue and White received 0.2%.
The results are not representative of the Israeli electorate, and most participating students are not old enough to vote in Israel’s Oct. 27 national election.
“Education for democracy is not limited to studying from a textbook; it is about the ability to be exposed to diverse opinions, to Listen to those who think differently, to ask questions, to formulate a position, and to participate actively in public life,” Ramat Gan Mayor Carmel Shama-Hacohen said.
Blich Principal Hila Romesh said the vote capped a month-long educational program focused on critical thinking and civic participation.
“Precisely at a time when public discourse is complex and sometimes polarized, it is important to us to create a space within the school where students can encounter diverse perspectives,” she said.
Nationally, recent public opinion polls show Eisenkot leading Netanyahu, but the parties aligned with Eisenkot would still fall short of the 61 seats needed for a Knesset majority.
