Eisenkot Vows to Form Government, Claims Half-Million-Vote Edge Over Netanyahu

Gadi Eisenkot has declared that he will work to form Israel's next government. The chairman of the Yashar! with Eisenkot Party said a majority of Israeli citizens voted against what he called "the government of October 7 and draft evasion," by a margin of more than half a million votes.

Eisenkot called the vote "the most consequential in Israel's history." He committed to building a "Zionist, statesmanlike government based on the broadest possible national consensus."

He set out four core commitments for that government:

He also addressed the question of who holds authority over the coalition-building process. "In the State of Israel, it is the Knesset that grants confidence to the government, not the other way around," he stated.

Channel 13 political correspondent Michael Shemesh wrote on X on Friday that he sees a 63-seat government resting on Ra'am and United Torah Judaism as Eisenkot's most "realistic" path. Shemesh said those parties might back the government from outside the coalition. He added that the arrangement would require a draft law and certain budgets for the Arab and chareidi sectors. He also called the scenario "a bit thin," saying it would require Liberman and Bennett "to do Pilates."

Channel 12's "Friday Studio" reported that senior figures in the opposition change bloc confirmed they are examining a direct vote for prime minister. The proposal comes amid the deadlock that followed the Knesset 26 elections. It is one option the bloc is weighing to form a government without relying on Arab parties and without entering a unity government with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.