Eisenkot: Parliamentary majority will be activated immediately against Netanyahu government

Gadi Eisenkot, leader of the Yisrael Beiteinu party, announced that the opposition will immediately begin mobilizing the majority it gained in the Knesset in coordination with Arab parties to confront the Netanyahu government, in a written statement issued following the results of the general elections.

Eisenkot wrote that "the majority of Israeli citizens voted by a margin exceeding 500,000 votes against the October 7 government," noting that voters chose against a government of draft-dodgers and in favor of change regardless of the angle from which one views the numbers. He clarified that his party's priorities in the Knesset will be: establishing a state commission of inquiry into the October 7 events, enacting legislation for mandatory military service that includes the Haredim, and repealing the judicial reform that the opposition describes as "a blow to an independent judiciary."

Regarding the possibility of an alliance with Raam party led by Mansour Abbas and the Joint List, Eisenkot left the door open on condition of recognition of Israel as a Jewish state, adherence to the values of the Israeli Declaration of Independence, and classification of Hamas as a terrorist organization.

Eisenkot responded to circulating reports of potential pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump, saying that "the decision regarding the composition of the Israeli government belongs to Israeli citizens," stressing that there must not be any external interference or direction. Trump had previously stated that Netanyahu is "in good shape," indicating that he has not yet given thought to engaging in forming a national unity government.

On the coordination front, Eisenkot met with former Prime Minister Yair Lapid, leader of the Yesh Atid party, in the first publicly announced formal contact between the two sides. Lapid reported via X platform that the two "discussed the results and coordinated steps in a spirit of shared responsibility toward the will of voters."

Preliminary unofficial results of the October 27 elections showed that Netanyahu's bloc won 53 seats while the opposition bloc stopped at 48 seats, with both blocs falling short of the 61 seats required for a majority in the 120-seat Knesset. Arab parties achieved a record number with 19 seats: 11 for the Joint List composed of Hadash, Ta'al, and Balad, and 8 for Raam party.