Israeli opposition leaders back Eisenkot for prime minister

Leaders of Israel’s main Jewish-led opposition alliance agreed on Tuesday to recommend former military chief Gadi Eisenkot as the next prime minister. They met in Herzliya for their first joint gathering since the October 27 election, pledging to replace Benjamin Netanyahu’s government with a national emergency administration as quickly as possible.

The agreement arrives one day before President Isaac Herzog begins formal consultations with political parties to determine who should form the next government. In a joint statement, the leaders announced that negotiating teams would immediately start drafting policy guidelines and coalition agreements to facilitate a swift transition of power.

The meeting included Eisenkot, former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Liberman, Democrats leader Yair Golan, and Yesh Atid head Yair Lapid. The group affirmed four principles set by Eisenkot, requiring all governing parties to recognize Israel as a Jewish state and label Hamas a terrorist organization.

These conditions create a significant divide within the opposition regarding potential alliances with Arab-led parties, whose nineteen seats could prove decisive in reaching the sixty-one needed for a majority. Liberman has firmly opposed including these groups, while Golan is the only leader openly supporting such an alliance, calling exclusion racist.

Golan met with Arab party leaders beforehand, promising to address high crime rates in Palestinian communities. Both sides later stressed their shared interest in using the parliamentary majority to remove the current government. Yousef Jabareen, head of the largest Arab-led party, urged the opposition to accept political reality and join forces.