JERUSALEM — Yashar party leader Gadi Eisenkot moved Saturday to mobilize an anti-Netanyahu parliamentary majority to roll back major policies and establish an alternative ruling coalition following an inconclusive national election.
The Oct. 27 vote left Israel’s 120-member Knesset deeply split, with neither Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu nor his rivals possessing a clear path to the 61-seat majority necessary to form a government, according to reports by Ynetnews and The Jerusalem Post.
Eisenkot outlines terms for a new government
Eisenkot, a former military chief of staff whose newly established Yashar party took 21 seats, released a lengthy statement Saturday evening after meeting with opposition leader Yair Lapid. Eisenkot insisted that the Knesset, not the caretaker government, must set the country’s direction, Ynetnews reported.
His declared priorities include creating a state commission of inquiry into the Oct. 7 attacks, instituting mandatory national service across the population, expanding benefits for troops, and repealing legislation from Netanyahu’s contested judicial overhaul.
Eisenkot set four baseline conditions for any future coalition partners: affirming Israel as a Jewish, democratic, liberal and egalitarian state; committing to the principles of Israel’s Declaration of Independence; requiring all citizens to complete military, civilian or national service; and recognizing Hamas as a terrorist organization whose military and administrative structures in the Gaza Strip must be destroyed.
Addressing tensions with Iran, Eisenkot also cautioned that he would only endorse military strikes ahead of a new government’s swearing-in if they targeted imminent threats that could not wait, Ynetnews reported.
Obstacles across the divided Knesset
Netanyahu’s Likud party finished as the single largest faction with 27 seats, lifting his traditional right-wing and religious alliance to 53 seats, according to The Jerusalem Post. That tally left the incumbent prime minister eight seats short of a working majority. The core opposition bloc secured 48 seats, while two Arab parties, Ra’am and the Joint List, earned a combined 19 seats.
Although 67 lawmakers sit outside Netanyahu’s camp, converting shared opposition into a workable government presents severe political hurdles. Former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett of the B’Yachad party and Avigdor Liberman of Yisrael Beytenu had both pledged during the campaign not to lean on Arab parties, while The Democrats leader Yair Golan urged the bloc to include them, The Jerusalem Post reported.
Tensions escalated further Saturday when Yashar accused Likud figures of attempting to peel away its lawmakers to help Netanyahu reach a majority. In a public statement cited by Ynetnews, Yashar claimed Education Minister Yoav Kisch, lawmaker Almog Cohen and incoming Likud lawmaker Yaakov Bardugo had called party members in an effort to convince them to defect.
Herzog to open coalition consultations
President Isaac Herzog is expected to receive the certified election tallies this week before meeting with leaders of all elected parties, The Jerusalem Post reported. Herzog must then assign one lawmaker the mandate to construct a government.
The designated politician will receive 28 days to negotiate a coalition, with the possibility of a 14-day extension. Netanyahu will stay on as caretaker prime minister until a replacement administration secures a vote of confidence in parliament, leaving Israel’s immediate political future unsettled.
