Eisenkot named joint opposition prime minister candidate

Five Israeli opposition party leaders agreed on Tuesday to support Gadi Eisenkot as their joint candidate for prime minister. The decision unites the main political forces currently opposing Benjamin Netanyahu’s government. Eisenkot leads the Yashar party and previously served as head of the Israeli military.

The coalition of party heads met in Herzliya, north of Tel Aviv. This was their first gathering since the October 27 election. That vote produced a hung parliament, leaving no single bloc with a majority in the 120-seat Knesset. President Isaac Herzog begins formal consultations on which party will attempt to form the next cabinet on Wednesday.

The group includes Eisenkot, former prime minister Naftali Bennett, Avigdor Liberman, Yair Golan, and Yair Lapid. In a joint statement, they confirmed that all their parties would recommend Eisenkot to the president. Negotiating teams will immediately begin drafting policy guidelines and coalition agreements. The leaders described their goal as replacing the current administration, which they labeled the October 7 government, with a national emergency government.

The opposition agreed to four principles outlined by Eisenkot. These conditions require coalition partners to recognize Israel as a Jewish state and to designate Hamas as a terrorist group. Bennett emphasized the need for speed, telling reporters that the group did not have time to delay. His party secured the third-highest number of seats in the recent vote.

The seat distribution creates a complex arithmetic problem for the opposition. Netanyahu’s bloc won 53 seats, while the opposition captured 48. Arab-led parties hold 19 seats, with the Joint List taking 11 and Ra’am securing eight. A majority requires 61 seats, making the support of these smaller parties potentially decisive for forming a stable government.

The opposition remains divided on whether to ally with Arab-led parties. Yair Golan is the only leader openly supporting such an alliance. He met with Arab party leaders before the Tuesday talks and described excluding them as racist. Golan promised to address high crime rates in Palestinian communities within Israel. In contrast, Avigdor Liberman firmly opposes including these parties but also wants to avoid another election.

Yousef Jabareen, who heads the largest Arab-led party in the next parliament, urged the opposition to accept political reality. He called for the groups to join forces to remove Netanyahu. Both sides highlighted their shared interest in using a parliamentary majority to replace the current government. That administration includes Netanyahu, Itamar Ben-Gvir, and Bezalel Smotrich.

Netanyahu, 76, called on Monday for a broad national government under his leadership. He noted that his Likud party remains the largest single party with 27 seats. No opposition leader has expressed openness to joining his coalition. Netanyahu ruled out a partnership with Arab-majority lists, claiming they support terrorism and deny the existence of the Jewish state.

The prime minister is currently on trial for corruption charges and is wanted by the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes in Gaza. The war in Gaza, which began in October 2023, has resulted in the deaths of more than 74,000 Palestinians. President Herzog is scheduled to hold consultations on Wednesday and Thursday. If Eisenkot secures the backing of Arab lawmakers, he could receive the most recommendations to form the government.