Yashar leader Gadi Eisenkot canceled a planned meeting with Likud after a speech by caretaker Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, sharpening a coalition dispute as no bloc holds a majority in Israel’s parliament.
Israel’s parliament swore in all 120 members of its 26th Knesset on Nov. 10. Official election results gave Likud 27 seats and Yashar 21. Reuters grouped Netanyahu’s alliance at 53 seats, Eisenkot’s bloc at 48 and Arab-led parties at 19; 61 seats are needed for a majority.
President Isaac Herzog tasked Eisenkot with forming a government on Nov. 8 after factions representing 67 lawmakers recommended him. Factions representing 46 backed Netanyahu, while one representing seven made no recommendation. The consultations showed who had support for the mandate, but did not establish that Eisenkot had a governing coalition.
At the Knesset opening, Netanyahu called for national unity and accused Arab-led parties of seeking Israel’s destruction, the Associated Press reported. Yashar canceled its Nov. 11 meeting with Likud after the speech, AP and The Times of Israel reported. The Times of Israel said Eisenkot wrote on X that he was “even more convinced” Netanyahu was “unfit to remain in office for even one minute more.”
Roi Zur, a political scientist at the University of Essex, told Al Jazeera that Netanyahu had helped make Israeli political contests revolve more around party leaders as individuals. The 19 Arab-led seats could offer a source of support for an Eisenkot-led government, though Reuters described coalition-building as difficult. Reuters outlined possible routes including a minority government, agreements with ultra-Orthodox parties or a unity arrangement with Netanyahu.
Eisenkot’s bloc has introduced bills for a state inquiry into the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, attacks, limits on prime ministerial terms and reversing changes that curtailed judicial powers. AP reported that the measures’ timing and prospects were uncertain.
Reuters reported that Eisenkot’s initial deadline is Dec. 6 and that he can seek an extension through Dec. 20.
