The Israeli opposition bloc, under the leadership of centrist MP Gadi Eisenkot, meets on Tuesday to try to form a majority at the end of the legislative elections and to resolve the delicate question of rallying the Arab parties. For his part, outgoing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is calling for a broad coalition excluding Arab parties, which he accuses of "supporting terrorism".

Published on: 03/11/2026 - 02:41 Modified on: 03/11/2026 - 09:24

The opposition bloc, led by the centrist Gadi Eisenkot (Yashar party), met on Tuesday November 2 to “discuss and coordinate the next steps”. The rallying of Arab parties, which would place Gadi Eisenkot in the favorite position to form a government, is at the heart of the discussions.

Within the opposition bloc, the left-wing leader, Yair Golan, is in favor of an alliance with the Arab parties, while the right-wing leader Avigdor Liberman is radically opposed to it. The Yashar party and the Ensemble party are still undecided.

This is their first meeting of the opposition bloc since the October 27 election which produced no majority, neither for Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition (53 seats), nor for the camp led by Gadi Eisenkot (48 seats).

The main question concerns the role that the opposition bloc could give to the Arab lists, Raam and the Joint List, which obtained a record number of 19 seats out of the 120 in Parliament.

Also read: Elections in Israel: can the “huge success” of Arab parties bring down Netanyahu?

All components of the bloc affirmed that they would propose Gadi Eisenkot as future Prime Minister to President Isaac Herzog, who will begin his consultations on Wednesday with a view to forming a government. The Arab parties have also suggested this.

“Expanded government” without Arab parties

For his part, Benjamin Netanyahu called for the formation, under his leadership, of a broad government coalition excluding the Arab parties, which he continued to target during his campaign, and after the election, presenting them as a threat to the survival of Israel.

Their leaders, for their part, describe his government as “racist”.

“We seek to establish an expanded government with our partners and with any party that wishes to join us and does not support terrorism. I am open to a dialogue on this,” he said on the Telegram channel of his Likud party.

“The public in Israel does not want a government that depends on Raam and the Joint List,” he added, accusing these groups of “supporting terrorism and denying the existence of the Jewish state.”

Their leaders condemned the Hamas attacks in Israel on October 7, without however formally qualifying the Palestinian Islamist movement as terrorist.

As for the definition of Israel as a Jewish state, it was recognized by the leader of Raam but is rejected by other Arab party leaders.

President Isaac Herzog consults parties

Yashar seemed to rule it out but without clearly excluding it, and the position of the Ensemble party (center right) is vague. President Isaac Herzog announced that he would receive the parties between Wednesday afternoon and Thursday evening, starting with those with the fewest seats.

Also read: Israel: Isaac Herzog, a president with a crucial role in the formation of a new government

According to the practice in Israel, he must entrust the task of forming a government to the most recommended personality, taking into account the weight of the different parties, which places Gadi Eisenkot in the position of favorite.

In Benjamin Netanyahu's camp, his far-right allies Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gvir should propose the name of the outgoing Prime Minister, barring a huge surprise, just like Shass (ultra-Orthodox) according to press information. The position of the other ultra-Orthodox party is unclear.

The president in principle has until November 11 to make his choice. The nominated candidate then has 28 days (extendable by 14 days) to form a coalition capable of receiving confidence in Parliament.

In the event of failure, the president can entrust this mandate to another candidate, again for 28 days, then, if deadlocked, give the mandate to Parliament so that it can try to bring together 61 deputies.

If this last-ditch solution fails, the Knesset is dissolved and a new election organized within 90 days.

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