Israeli opposition leaders have agreed to recommend Yashar party head Gadi Eisenkot to President Isaac Herzog to form the next government, vowing to replace Benjamin Netanyahu’s administration with a “national emergency government.”
The agreement was reached on Tuesday following a joint meeting of opposition party leaders in Herzliya in west-central Israel ahead of the start of consultations at Herzog’s residence on Wednesday.
The statement said all participating parties will recommend Eisenkot to Herzog to form the next government, and their negotiating teams will immediately begin drafting policy guidelines and coalition agreements needed to establish the new cabinet.
“The party leaders are coordinated and will act immediately to replace the ‘October 7 government’ with a national emergency government,” the parties said, adding that they would seek to realise a “clear parliamentary majority” in the Knesset.
Arab parties hold key role
The leaders also discussed steps to be taken during the first days of the new Knesset aimed at forming a government and avoiding another election, the statement said.
Tuesday’s meeting was the first joint meeting of the opposition leaders since the October 27 elections.
It brought together Eisenkot, former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett of Together party, Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Lieberman, Yair Golan of the Democrats and opposition leader Yair Lapid, according to The Jerusalem Post.
The elections left Netanyahu’s bloc with 53 seats in the 120-member Knesset, while the opposition secured 48 seats and Arab parties won 19.
The opposition remains short of the 61 seats needed for a parliamentary majority on its own, making support from Arab lawmakers potentially decisive in efforts to form a government.
