Eisenkot Floats 58-Seat Minority Government, Bennett and Liberman Reject Path

Gadi Eisenkot has proposed forming a government with fewer than the 61 Knesset seats normally required, a plan that has divided the opposition bloc days before it tries to unite behind a single candidate to replace Benjamin Netanyahu. Eisenkot said he would accept 58 or 59 seats and then seek a confidence vote, after which he would try to widen his parliamentary base.

The proposal would need only a simple majority in a confidence vote, allowing abstentions to carry it. It does not apply to a vote of no confidence against an existing government, which still requires 61 lawmakers to back a replacement.

Naftali Bennett and Avigdor Liberman have both refused the idea. Liberman said he would rather see another election than accept a minority arrangement, while Bennett and Yair Lapid say they want a Zionist government and will not rely on Arab party votes or abstentions. Yair Golan has not ruled out working with Ra'am. Eisenkot has also not closed the door on outside support from that party.

The disagreement over how many seats are needed sits alongside a separate contest over who would lead such a government. Eisenkot wants to head the largest party and become prime minister. Bennett points to his own experience in the job. A meeting between the two men this week ended with a joint call to raise voter turnout but did not resolve the question of who would lead.

Here is how the bloc reached this point. Polls put the anti-Netanyahu parties ahead of the outgoing coalition, but their current agreements still leave them short of the 61 seats required to govern. Netanyahu and his allies are also short of a majority in many surveys. Eisenkot rejects serving under Netanyahu under any rotation deal, which closes off one common route to a government.

The opposition is also moving on a separate front. Parties in the bloc are close to agreeing on replacing Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana before any coalition deal is signed, aiming to control the parliamentary agenda even if Netanyahu remains caretaker prime minister. The speaker is chosen by open vote early in a new Knesset's term, and Arab party lawmakers could supply the votes needed to reach a majority.

Names floated for the position include Chili Tropper, Matan Kahana and Elazar Stern from Eisenkot's list; Meirav Ben-Ari and Eitan Ginzburg from the Bennett-Lapid list; Efrat Rayten of the Democrats; and Oded Forer of Yisrael Beytenu. No candidate has been agreed. Liberman said this week that as many as one-third of outgoing coalition lawmakers might vote against Ohana, though they would have to do so publicly.

The bloc has also set out an agenda that includes a state commission of inquiry into October 7, changes to conscription law, limits on a prime minister's term, and reversal of some judicial changes made by the outgoing government. Liberman wants an added bar on anyone facing criminal charges serving as prime minister. No binding agreement exists on the details or the order of those items, though party teams have started coordinating.