Competing positions on a broad government
KAN reported Monday, citing unnamed sources, that Eisenkot addressed the issue during a recent private meeting. "I will not sit in a government led by Netanyahu," he was quoted as saying.
He distinguished a willingness to meet Trump from accepting outside involvement in coalition decisions. "If Trump invites me, I will respect the president and attend, but I will stress that this concerns internal Israeli affairs, and I will prevent any interference," KAN quoted him as saying.
Netanyahu had earlier expressed willingness to discuss a broad government, provided he remained its leader. He also rejected any coalition whose survival would depend on the two main Arab parties, Ra'am and the Joint List.
Eisenkot's potential partners and conditions
Three opposition parties have chosen Eisenkot as their recommendation to form the next government: Naftali Bennett's Together, Yair Golan's Democrats and Avigdor Lieberman's Yisrael Beytenu. If the two Arab lists also recommend him as expected, he could have the backing of 67 lawmakers.
Those recommendations would not resolve the disagreements over coalition membership. Lieberman refuses to enter a government that either includes Arab parties or depends on their votes, a major obstacle to assembling an Eisenkot-led coalition.
The two Arab-led parties were preparing to support Eisenkot's bloc in early November, Al Jazeera reported, but their positions on joining a government differ. Joint List leader Yousef Jabareen told The Guardian on Monday that his party would work with the "Change" bloc to remove Netanyahu while remaining outside an Eisenkot government. Its support in Knesset votes could allow a minority government with fewer than 61 seats.
Ra'am leader Mansour Abbas, by contrast, has long expressed willingness to join an Eisenkot government if his party receives the internal security portfolio, according to Al Jazeera.
Eisenkot outlined his own requirements for prospective partners on October 31, The Jerusalem Post reported. Lawmakers would have to recognize Israel as a Jewish, democratic, liberal and egalitarian state and commit to the values of its Declaration of Independence. They would also have to support mandatory military, national or civilian service for every Israeli citizen, recognize Hamas as a terrorist organization and accept an obligation to destroy its military and governing power in Gaza. He said any lawmaker who accepted those principles could be a partner in a broad Zionist, statesmanlike government.
The election results and fraud allegations
The October 27 election left Netanyahu's bloc with 53 of the Knesset's 120 seats, the Jewish-led opposition with 48 and the Arab parties with 19. None of the blocs won enough seats for a majority.
Israel's Central Elections Committee released the final results on October 30. The Times of Israel reported the allocations for the 26th Knesset as 27 seats for Likud, 21 for Yashar, 12 for B'Yachad, 11 for the Joint List, eight each for The Democrats and Ra'am, seven each for Yisrael Beytenu, United Torah Judaism and Otzma Yehudit, and six each for Shas and Religious Zionism. Turnout reached 77.9% of eligible voters, with 5,716,665 votes cast.
The combined 19-seat result was a record for the Joint List and Ra'am, following a roughly twofold rise in Arab voter turnout to about 80%, according to Al Jazeera. Ra'am is the only Arab party to have previously entered an Israeli governing coalition. It did so in 2021, and that government lasted less than two years.
Netanyahu and Likud have repeatedly alleged, without proof, that Arab parties carried out election fraud with foreign backing, Al Jazeera reported. Among the handful of cases they cited were the arrests of three activists suspected of bribing voters and allegedly linked to Ra'am. The party denies involvement.
Central Elections Committee head Noam Sohlberg said that substantiating those suspicions would still not call into question the integrity of the election process or the overall results.
Consultations and the timetable
Opposition leaders are due to coordinate their positions at a Tuesday meeting before President Isaac Herzog begins two days of consultations with parliamentary factions on Wednesday. The official election results are also due to reach Herzog on November 4.
Whoever Herzog assigns to form a government will have 28 days to do so, with a possible extension of 14 days, according to Al Jazeera's account of the process. If the attempt fails, Herzog may turn to another candidate.
The new Knesset is scheduled to be sworn in on November 10, 2026, whether or not the coalition negotiations have concluded.
