Eisenkot Sets 4 Coalition Conditions After Netanyahu Bloc Falls to 53 Seats
Updated
Updated · The Washington Post · Oct 31
Eisenkot Sets 4 Coalition Conditions After Netanyahu Bloc Falls to 53 Seats
3 articles · Updated · The Washington Post · Oct 31
Summary
Gadi Eisenkot said Saturday he would work with any lawmaker who accepts four terms for joining his government, opening coalition talks after the election left Benjamin Netanyahu without a majority.
Those conditions include compulsory military or civilian service and a pledge to destroy Hamas’s military and governing power in Gaza, a formula aimed at attracting defectors from Netanyahu’s camp.
The arithmetic is tight: Netanyahu’s bloc holds 53 seats, the opposition 48 and Arab parties 19, with 61 needed for a majority and negotiations likely to take weeks.
Eisenkot has not ruled out Arab or ultra-Orthodox partners, but his enlistment demand and Hamas condition could alienate both, leaving President Isaac Herzog to decide who gets the first mandate to try forming a government.
The 66-year-old former army chief built his campaign on accountability after Oct. 7, urging Netanyahu to quit politics and promising a state inquiry while presenting himself as a security hawk who could also end years of war.