Israeli opposition backs Eisenkot to replace Netanyahu
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Nile Post
All Israeli opposition parties have backed Gadi Eisenkot to replace Benjamin Netanyahu as prime minister. His bloc has 48 seats against 53 for Netanyahu’s alliance, while Arab parties hold 19 decisive seats, France 24 reports.
All Israeli opposition parties have backed Gadi Eisenkot to lead their camp and replace Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The bloc led by General and MP Gadi Eisenkot is due to meet on Tuesday in Herzliya to coordinate the next stage of negotiations, according to France 24.
Neither of the two main camps won a majority in the legislative elections the previous week. Eisenkot’s bloc holds 48 seats, compared with 53 for Netanyahu’s alliance, while predominantly Arab lists won a record 19 of the Knesset’s 120 seats and can decide between the two camps.
Netanyahu, whose Likud holds 27 seats, is calling for a national unity government under his leadership and ruling out a coalition with the Arab lists. Arab parties condemned Hamas’s 7 October 2023 attack, but their leaders differ over the definition of Israel as a Jewish state.
The meeting comes after the Israeli opposition failed to reach an agreement to replace Netanyahu. Eisenkot had previously opened his future government to Arab MPs under certain conditions, while coalition negotiations remain under way.
