Follow-Up: Israel's Five Opposition Parties Agree to Recommend Eisenkot to Form the Government
The leaders of Israel's five opposition parties met in Herzliya on November 3, their first joint meeting since the October 27 election, and agreed unanimously to recommend Yashar party leader Gadi Eisenkot, a former chief of staff of the Israel Defense Forces, to receive the first mandate to form a government. Those attending included Eisenkot himself, former prime minister Naftali Bennett, Avigdor Liberman, Yair Golan and outgoing opposition leader Yair Lapid; the meeting lasted about 70 minutes.
In a joint statement, the five parties said their leaders were coordinated and would act immediately to replace the current government with a 'national emergency government,' and that negotiating teams would begin drafting policy guidelines and coalition agreements at once. The statement also endorsed four principles Eisenkot had set out for joining his government: every party must recognise Israel as a Jewish state, designate Hamas a terrorist organisation, accept national service and conscription obligations, and back the elimination of Hamas's military and governing capabilities in Gaza.
The arithmetic remains unresolved: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's bloc won 53 seats and the opposition bloc 48, neither reaching the 61 needed to form a government. The two Arab-led parties, which won 19 seats, have said they will recommend Eisenkot, which would give him 67 recommendations in total, but the opposition bloc remains divided over whether to rely on Arab-party support. President Isaac Herzog is to begin consultations with the parliamentary factions on November 4; the nominee will have 28 days to form a government, extendable by 14.
Source: The Jerusalem Post
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：位于 Jerusalem 的以色列议会大楼（资料图）。照片 CC0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: The Knesset building in Jerusalem (file photo). CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.
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- 2026-11-03Follow-Up: Israel's Five Opposition Parties Agree to Recommend Eisenkot to Form the GovernmentThis story
