Netanyahu's Circle Explores Unity Government with Eisenkot

Sources close to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are reportedly exploring the possibility of forming a unity government that would include Gadi Eisenkot, chairman of the Yishai party. This initiative comes despite Eisenkot's previous commitment not to join a government led by Netanyahu. The plan, as reported by Maariv, suggests Netanyahu might offer Eisenkot a broad partnership, potentially including a rotation in the prime minister's office and the exclusion of the ultra-Orthodox parties from the initial coalition.

Proponents of this idea acknowledge that Eisenkot has not yet shown any willingness to discuss the proposal. They believe his political standing may make it difficult for him to maintain his opposition to joining a Netanyahu-led government. These sources argue that the bloc opposing Netanyahu has exhausted its electoral potential, partly due to high voter turnout in the Arab community and special trips by Israelis abroad to vote in the last elections. They suggest that any future elections would be harder to replicate such participation, potentially giving the right-wing bloc a more significant majority.

Under one proposed scenario, Eisenkot would serve as prime minister for the first two years, after which Netanyahu would transfer the role to him. Netanyahu's circle explains that during his tenure, he would aim to advance actions against Iran and promote regional peace agreements, potentially concluding by the end of U.S. President Donald Trump's term. An alternative possibility is that Netanyahu would not seek a rotation and would instead offer Eisenkot a senior ministerial position.

The plan also addresses the composition of the coalition and the issue of ultra-Orthodox conscription. According to the framework being promoted by Likud figures, the government would initially be formed with Eisenkot, Itamar Ben-Gvir, and Bezalel Smotrich, but without the ultra-Orthodox parties. Likud estimates this arrangement would allow Eisenkot to achieve progress on the conscription issue, while enabling the ultra-Orthodox parties to join the government after legislation is completed. The bloc opposing Netanyahu currently rejects any possibility of Eisenkot joining a government led by the current prime minister.