Netanyahu Renews Call for Unity Government with Opponent
Netanyahu said a broad coalition is needed to confront Iran and warned that a narrow government would not meet Israel’s security challenges.
- On November 8, 2026, President Isaac Herzog formally tasked opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot with forming Israel's next government after Eisenkot secured 67 Knesset recommendations, including 19 seats from Arab factions Ra'am and the Joint List.
- Israel's October 27 election resulted in a hung parliament, leaving Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud-led bloc with 53 seats and Eisenkot's Yashar alliance with 48, neither reaching the 61-seat majority required to govern.
- Netanyahu criticized the prospective coalition as a "dangerous government" reliant on "terror supporters," while Eisenkot dismissed the Prime Minister's unity appeals as political "tricks" intended to sow division.
- Eisenkot holds an initial 28-day mandate to form a government, with a possible 14-day extension if he demonstrates progress toward a confidence vote by the December 6 deadline.
- Netanyahu continues to advocate for a national unity government, arguing that such an alliance is essential to confront Iran's alleged nuclear threat, which he claims a minority government could not manage.
153 Articles
153 Articles
Netanyahu drops demand to lead as he urges rival Gadi Eisenkot to form unity government over Iran threat
Netanyahu's political bloc lost its parliamentary majority after last month's election, as President Isaac Herzog gave opposition leader Eisenkot the mandate to form a new government.
Jerusalem. The politician in charge of forming the new government in Israel, Gadi Eisenkot, described as “another political maneuver” the offer of the Prime Minister and fugitive from the International Criminal Court, Benjamin Netanyahu, to negotiate “a government of national unity,” after the premier claimed that a coalition is needed that “permanently eliminates the Iranian nuclear threat.”
Israel PM Netanyahu urges Eisenkot for unity govt amid Iran threat
TEL AVIV: Israel’s incumbent Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has urged Yashar party chief Gadi Eisenkot to abandon efforts to form an alternative national coalition and join hands with Likud party establish a national unity government, describing it as the appropriate response to Arab lawmakers who walked out of parliament during the singing of Israel’s national anthem, ‘Hatikvah’. PM Netanyahu also invoked the renewed Iranian nuclear threat, …
Acting prime minister warns that the Iranian regime "will not hesitate" to use nuclear weapons against Israel; Eisenkot qualifies the offer as "farce" and sets as a condition to break with the "extremists"
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