Negotiating teams representing Gadi Eisenkot’s Yashar party, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud, and Naftali Bennett’s B’Yachad party met for an hourlong session at the Dan Accadia Hotel in Herzliya on Sunday to discuss a potential unity government.
The meeting marked the first formal coalition talks since Israel’s recent elections, taking place against a backdrop of ongoing political deadlock as the 26th Knesset entered its first full week. In a brief joint statement, the parties described the gathering as having been held in a “businesslike atmosphere” and confirmed that discussions would continue, though the statement offered no specific details on whether any progress was reached.
Prior to the sit-down, Yashar pushed back against an Army Radio broadcast suggesting it might offer Likud a rotation deal where Eisenkot serving first would take the premier’s office, insisting that the sole proposal on the table was for Likud to enter an Eisenkot-led administration.
Meanwhile, according to ynetglobal, Netanyahu dropped his demand to lead a rotation government for the first time on Saturday in an apparent show of flexibility, “Let's sit down together without preconditions, set aside all our differences and all the boycotts, and reach agreements for Israel's security and future,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a video address, after earlier urging Eisenkot to meet without preconditions to form a unity government for Israel's security.
New committee chairs take posts before Knesset speaker vote
While unity talks progressed in Herzliya, Eisenkot’s bloc prepared to advance its parliamentary agenda in the Knesset, setting up a series of major legislative tests. On Monday, B’Yachad MK Liran Avisar Ben Horin and Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Liberman are scheduled to officially assume their posts as chairs of the Finance Committee and the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, respectively.
The bloc’s first major floor test is scheduled for Tuesday, when lawmakers will vote on a motion called by Eisenkot’s bloc to replace Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana with Yashar MK Matan Kahana. If successful, the bloc intends to begin advancing legislation as early as Wednesday to repeal the previous government’s judicial overhaul laws.
Yair Golan’s Democrats party announced on Sunday that it reached an agreement with Yashar for a left-wing party representative to chair the special Knesset committee tasked with repealing the legislation. “This is the beginning of the process of repairing the damage,” Yair Golan said in a statement.
Did You Know? During the consultations at the Dan Accadia Hotel, activists parked a truck outside with a billboard referencing a political fable, reflecting deep-seated tensions outside the negotiating room.
“Gadi, you don't do business with scorpions,” was the message on a billboard on a truck parked outside the hotel, referencing remarks by Yashar MK Meirav Cohen.
Eisenkot courts ultra-Orthodox factions to secure governing majority
Eisenkot is also quietly courting ultra-Orthodox factions to secure the numbers needed for a governing majority. According to Channel 12, Eisenkot secretly met last week with United Torah Judaism chairman Yaakov Asher, although informal negotiations remain far from an agreement primarily over the military conscription law and guarantees demanded by Haredi parties, as reported by The Jerusalem Post.
Netanyahu is simultaneously pressing United Torah Judaism to oppose the appointment of Kahana as Knesset speaker, creating a high-stakes test of the party’s willingness to cooperate. Should United Torah Judaism join the coalition, the prospective cabinet’s tally would rise to 55 MKs, remaining six seats shy of a parliamentary majority.
Who represented Yashar and Likud and what are the founding principles?
Who represented Yashar and Likud at the Sunday meeting in Herzliya?
Yashar was represented by MK Chili Tropper and former Netanyahu chief of staff-turned-Eisenkot ally Yoav Horowitz, while Likud sent faction chair MK Ofir Katz and Netanyahu’s former personal lawyer Michael Rabello.
What are the four founding principles required by Yashar to join its government?
Prospective partners must accept recognition of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state, accept the Declaration of Independence, support mandatory military or civilian service for all, and recognize Hamas as a terrorist organization alongside a commitment to dismantling its capabilities.
What legislative changes are planned following the Knesset speaker vote?
How will the ongoing negotiations over military conscription influence the final alignment of the ultra-Orthodox parties?