Avigdor Liberman dropped his longstanding veto on ultra-Orthodox participation in government, creating a potential majority path for opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot.
Following the October 27 election, opposition parties control 48 seats in the 120-member Knesset, falling short of the 61 seats required to govern, according to Algemeiner. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s bloc secured 53 seats, while Arab-led factions won 19 seats, leaving no single bloc with an outright majority.
Data from the Central Elections Committee revealed that 5,695,682 Israelis — representing a remarkable 77.7 percent of those eligible — had voted by 10 pm on election day, marking the highest voter turnout since 1999.
Liberman Alters Draft Stance
Avigdor Liberman announced that he would back Gadi Eisenkot for prime minister and set aside his insistence on universal military conscription for ultra-Orthodox Jews, as reported by JNS. Liberman pointed to the 2018 conscription bill as a framework for negotiations, acknowledging that the current political reality demands difficult choices. The 2018 proposal sought to gradually increase haredi enlistment while preserving military service deferrals for yeshiva students.
Liberman stated that he submitted a draft law formulated by the IDF and the defense establishment in 2018, and also referred to the Shkedi Report and the military conscription legislation promoted by the most recent coalition. Formulated by former Israeli Air Force commander Eliezer Shkedi, the Shkedi report explored methods for boosting ultra-Orthodox enlistment in the military.
The election results require all of us to recalculate our route and understand that there are no good alternatives or magic solutions before us,
Liberman wrote on X, according to JNS. In the political reality that has been created, national responsibility requires us to make difficult decisions and be prepared for painful compromises.
During the election campaign, Liberman had put up posters vowing to crack down on draft-dodgers and earlier described ultra-Orthodox Jews as anti-Jewish over their demands. Despite expressing a willingness to enter a coalition alongside ultra-Orthodox factions, Liberman took issue with Eisenkot’s previous choices and dismissed the possibility of a prime ministerial rotation, indicating his intention to head the government personally.
On a Saturday evening, Avigdor Lieberman also held a gathering with roughly 20 prominent Israeli business figures, the majority of whom maintain closer ties to his bloc allies Naftali Bennett and Gadi Eisenkot.
Eisenkot Reaches 61 Seats Through Ultra-Orthodox Parties
By bringing the ultra-Orthodox parties United Torah Judaism and Shas into negotiations, Eisenkot can reach the 61-seat threshold without relying on Arab lawmakers, as detailed by The New Arab. Yashar holds 21 seats, B’Yachad holds 12, The Democrats hold eight, and Yisrael Beiteinu holds seven, which combines with United Torah Judaism’s seven seats and Shas’s six seats to total 61 lawmakers, according to JNS.
The 48 seats claimed by the opposition consist of 21 belonging to Eisenkot’s Yashar party, 12 held by the Together bloc, eight won by the Democrats, and seven belonging to Lieberman’s Yisrael Beytenu.
Meanwhile, Netanyahu’s bloc accounted for 53 seats, which include 27 for Likud, seven for United Torah Judaism, seven for Otzma Yehudit, six for Shas, and six for Religious Zionism. Arab factions captured 19 seats in total, divided between 11 for the Joint List and eight for Ra’am, alternatively known as the United Arab List.
President Isaac Herzog received recommendations from 67 lawmakers supporting Eisenkot, compared with 46 backing Netanyahu, after Arab-led parties recommended Eisenkot during consultations, according to Tovima. However, Eisenkot maintained that his administration would be anchored by Jewish-led opposition factions while continuing discussions to secure formal coalition partners. Following the consultations, President Isaac Herzog formally declared that Yashar party leader Gadi Eisenkot would be given the initial opportunity to build Israel’s upcoming government.
🇮🇱 LIBERMAN BACKS EISENKOT, RULES OUT COALITION WITH NETANYAHU ISRAELI OPPOSITION LEADER AVIGDOR LIBERMAN REPORTEDLY SAID HIS PARTY WILL RECOMMEND GADI EISENKOT TO LEAD THE NEXT GOVERNMENT. LIBERMAN REITERATED THAT BENJAMIN NETANYAHU MUST LEAVE OFFICE, RULING OUT JOINING A…
Negotiations Progress Amid Legal Challenges for Conscription Laws
Yair Golan of The Democrats stated that negotiations to replace Netanyahu were making real progress. I’m more optimistic than I was on the Wednesday morning after the election results,
Golan said, according to Türkiye Today. There is progress.
There is a will.
Reviewing the 2018 draft proposal, Ynetnews noted that the legislation relies on institutional financial sanctions against yeshivas rather than personal penalties for individual draft evaders. Liberman emphasized that any legislative framework must satisfy judicial requirements, stating that the prerequisite for any conscription law is that it must pass the Supreme Court’s test,
as reported by Ynetnews.
According to Haredi insiders, informal talks are already underway between representatives of the ultra-Orthodox factions and associates of Liberman, with both sides mutually dropping their bans on political collaboration.
Officials from United Torah Judaism indicated that the party is open to any cooperative overtures, and Knesset member Moshe Asher observed that the display of flexibility makes one wonder how much bitter division and animosity could have been avoided had it been demonstrated in recent years.
Earlier coverage: Israeli Opposition Considers Alliance with Arab Parties
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