Israeli prime ministerial hopeful Gadi Eisenkot on Saturday said caretaker premier Benjamin Netanyahu “knows he lost the election”, accusing him of playing “tricks” by appealing for a unity government.
“Netanyahu is calling for negotiations while they are already underway; he claims to want unity but... sows division and stokes tensions as if there were no tomorrow,” the former army chief said, adding that “these tricks don’t work on me”.
Eisenkot, who chairs the Yashar party, described Netanyahu’s call for a meeting as “just another spin”, according to Israeli media.
He said negotiating teams from Yashar and Likud already had a meeting scheduled for the following day.
He said his conditions for joining an emergency government under his leadership are recognition of the principles he has outlined and separation from “the extremists”. Netanyahu, he claimed, is fighting a rearguard battle to obstruct the formation of a new government.
Golan blames ‘neglect’
Separately, opposition leader Yair Golan accused Netanyahu on Saturday of leaving Palestinian communities inside Israel at the mercy of criminal groups after a grenade attack in northern Israel.
Golan, who leads The Democrats party, said on X that the attack in the Galilee town of Kafr Manda reflected “the Netanyahu government’s policy of neglect”. He said Netanyahu handed Arab citizens over to criminal organisations when he appointed Itamar Ben-Gvir as national security minister.
Lina Qassem Zidan, 51, died after a grenade was thrown at a sweets shop in a busy commercial area of the town, Israeli media reported. Three others were injured, two of them moderately.
Israeli media said an initial assessment indicated the attackers were looking for a specific person and targeted a shop owned by his relative.
Zidan’s death brings the reported number of homicide victims in Arab communities this year to 200, including 20 women. Residents say homes and businesses have been hit in a series of shootings and grenade attacks over the past month, with no arrests announced.
On Friday, Eisenkot accused Netanyahu of fuelling a “racist and hostile” campaign to delegitimise Arab citizens, who make up more than one-fifth of Israel’s population.
President Isaac Herzog gave Eisenkot the mandate on November 8, following the October 27 elections. Lawmakers representing 67 seats in the 120-seat Knesset recommended Eisenkot, while 46 backed Netanyahu. Seven United Torah Judaism lawmakers recommended neither candidate.
Eisenkot has 28 days to form a government, with a possible 14-day extension.
