Israel's opposition moves to end Netanyahu era after election

Gadi Eisenkot, a former military chief of staff who leads the Yashar party and heads Israel's anti-Netanyahu bloc, has moved ahead of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in launching talks to form a new coalition government. If Eisenkot can consolidate enough seats from opposition and Arab parties to secure a parliamentary majority, Eisenkot would become Israel's next prime minister.

Israeli media, including the Times of Israel, reported that Eisenkot issued a statement Sunday formally declaring the outcome of Tuesday's general election a verdict against Netanyahu's government and its handling of military service exemptions, and announcing the start of coalition-building talks aimed at a change of government.

Eisenkot said the opposition and Arab parties together hold 67 of the Knesset's 120 seats, and intends to use that advantage to bring the Netanyahu era to a swift end.

A central challenge, however, will be negotiating with Arab parties whose political identity puts them at odds with Eisenkot's own. Eisenkot defines Yashar as a Zionist party — committed to the establishment and preservation of a Jewish national homeland — a principle that Arab parties are unlikely to formally endorse. Of the 67 seats the opposition secured in Tuesday's vote, 48 belong to Jewish opposition parties and 19 to Arab parties. Since a parliamentary majority requires 61 seats, Arab party support is indispensable for Eisenkot to win confirmation as prime minister.

Eisenkot described the government Eisenkot intends to form as "Zionist and statesmanlike" and laid out four core conditions for coalition membership: recognition of Israel as a Jewish, democratic and liberal state; respect for the values of Israel's Declaration of Independence; universal mandatory military or civilian service for all citizens; and designation of Hamas as a terrorist organization with a commitment to its complete eradication.

With those conditions, Yashar made clear that national security and Israel's identity as a Jewish state would be its top priorities. The universal service requirement in particular signals that ultra-Orthodox, or Haredi, parties — which Netanyahu's coalition had accommodated — would have no place in the new government. Haredi parties have long argued that their seminary students must be exempt from military service to devote themselves to prayer and study, a position that has drawn wide public backlash. Netanyahu had been unable to address the issue precisely because the coalition depended on Haredi party support.

The four conditions serve both as governing principles and as an open invitation: any party willing to accept them — including Jewish parties that had previously aligned with Netanyahu — could join Eisenkot's coalition.

Arab parties, meanwhile, appear intent on leveraging their newfound influence to the fullest. Ahmad Tibi, a lawmaker from the Joint List, said the party was willing to support the formation of an anti-Netanyahu government but would not take ministerial posts or participate directly in the cabinet. This is widely interpreted as a form of external support — sometimes called confidence-and-supply — under which Arab lawmakers would vote to confirm a new prime minister without formally endorsing Zionist principles, and would refrain from voting against government initiatives thereafter.

If Arab party lawmakers provide support in that manner from outside the coalition, the opposition bloc led by Eisenkot could launch a minority government without holding an outright majority of seats.

Local media reported that meetings among opposition party leaders began in earnest Sunday, with contacts also initiated between the anti-Netanyahu camp and Arab parties. Avigdor Lieberman, leader of Yisrael Beiteinu, met with Eisenkot on Sunday for the first time since the election, and Democratic Party leader Yair Golan is also scheduled to meet with Eisenkot. Golan was also reported to have met with Joint List leaders Yousef Jabareen and Ahmad Tibi.