Israel’s opposition leaders have settled on former military chief Gadi Eisenkot as their candidate for prime minister. They have also vowed to remove Benjamin Netanyahu’s government as fast as they can.
The five party heads met on Tuesday in Herzliya, a city north of Tel Aviv. It was their first joint meeting since the October 27 election, which left neither bloc with a majority in the 120-seat Knesset. The deal came a day before President Isaac Herzog starts talks with parties on who should form the next government. According to one account, the gathering included Eisenkot, former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Liberman, Yair Golan of the Democrats, and Yair Lapid, who heads Yesh Atid.
Opposition remains split over Arab-led parties
The opposition has not settled whether it will work with Arab-led parties, whose support could prove decisive. Golan is the only opposition leader openly backing an alliance with them, arguing that excluding them is racist. Before the talks, he met Arab-led party leaders and promised to tackle the high crime faced by Palestinian citizens of Israel in their communities.
Liberman has firmly opposed including Arab-led parties, although he also wants to avoid another election. Yousef Jabareen, head of the largest Arab-led party in the next parliament, said the opposition needed to accept “political reality” and join forces to remove Netanyahu.
Israel’s Arab minority, which makes up about 20 percent of the population, has long been marginalised in politics. That marginalisation has grown since the Hamas-led attacks of October 7 and Israel’s war on Gaza. At least two former Palestinian politicians and one current Knesset member have been briefly arrested over comments or acts deemed critical of Israel’s Gaza war and its occupation of the West Bank.
Eisenkot’s four principles and the joint statement
In a joint statement, the leaders said all their parties would recommend Eisenkot, head of the Yashar party, to Herzog. Negotiating teams will immediately begin drafting policy guidelines and coalition agreements. The leaders also stood by four principles that Eisenkot had set out. These include requiring all government parties to recognise Israel as a Jewish state and to label Hamas a terrorist group, conditions that could shut out some Arab-led parties.
“The party leaders are coordinated and will act immediately to replace the ‘Oct. 7 government’ with a national emergency government,” the statement said. Bennett, whose party came third, told reporters: “We don’t have time – we must act with great urgency.”
Seat counts and Netanyahu’s bid to stay in power
The results left the blocs far apart. The figures were as follows:
- Netanyahu’s bloc: 53 seats
- Opposition: 48 seats
- Arab-led parties: 19 seats, with the Joint List taking 11 and Ra’am eight
A majority requires 61 seats. On Monday, Netanyahu called for a “broad national government” under his leadership, saying his Likud party, with 27 seats, remained the largest. No opposition leader has expressed openness to joining him.
Netanyahu has ruled out a coalition with Arab-majority lists, alleging they “support terrorism and deny the existence of the Jewish state.” Netanyahu, 76, Israel’s longest-serving prime minister, is on trial on corruption charges. The International Criminal Court is seeking him over alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza. More than 74,000 Palestinians have been killed in the enclave since Israel began its war in October 2023.
Herzog will hold consultations on Wednesday and Thursday. Eisenkot could receive the most recommendations if he secures the backing of Arab lawmakers.
