Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has declined to rule out a unity government with his main rival, Gaid Eisenkot, as the Knesset remains deadlocked following last week’s general election.
Ynet has reported that, asked about the prospect of a coalition with Eisenkot’s Yashar in a closed-door meeting, Netanyahu replied: “We are examining everything. I am not completely ruling out any option.”
The now-caretaker leader’s coalition bloc is the largest, with 53 seats, but is short of the 61 needed for a majority.
Eisenkot’s bloc, meanwhile, sits on 48 seats, with the remaining 19 held by the two major Arab-Israeli factions, Ra’am and the Joint List.
The proposed unity arrangement would see aspects of both leading candidates’ blocs merge, with a rotational deal dictating who serves as prime minister.
Such an arrangement has existed before, notably in 2020 between Netanyahu and Blue and White’s Benny Gantz when that year’s election yielded a similarly inconclusive result.
However, the rotation never occurred in that government as the state budget failed to pass and the coalition dissolved after six months, forcing fresh elections.
And there are additional hurdles to such a deal being struck today, with a significant number of Eisenkot’s bloc partners previously saying they would not work with Netanyahu in government.
Eisenkot himself has said he would not accept any unity government in which Netanyahu could remain prime minister, while Likud whip Ofer Katz publicly committed the party against rotation in an interview with Army Radio on Sunday.
“We oppose rotation, after the election results showed a high level of confidence in us,” he said.
“Whoever wants to can join the government on the basis of the existing coalition.”
Meanwhile, the Arab parties’ strong performance has been a cause of particular scrutiny in recent days, with Likud alleging that the election was “stolen” and handing over a cache of alleged evidence to the Central Elections Committee (CEC).
The central allegation is that a “foreign power,” widely reported to be Qatar, funnelled money into the election to “buy votes” for the parties, a claim which they have strenuously denied.
The matter is now under investigation by the Shin Bet, but the CEC’s chairman, Supreme Court Justice Noam Sohlberg, has said that its findings will not have a significant impact on the result.
In a joint press conference alongside Shin Bet Director David Zini, Sohlberg said: “The election for the 26th Knesset was conducted properly.
“In recent days, many reports have been published about the ongoing Shin Bet investigation. Most of these reports are incorrect. The investigation is at a classified stage and is based on classified intelligence.
“Solid evidence is required to challenge the election results; we will investigate [the allegations] thoroughly and get to the truth.
“[However] the claim that the evidence currently before us could overturn the election results as a whole is incorrect. Israeli citizens went to the polls this past Tuesday in record numbers. They expressed their views, and those views will be respected.”
He added that, even if Likud’s allegations were found to be true, “this would not undermine the integrity of the electoral process or the election results as a whole,” confirming that the election result would be presented to President Herzog as scheduled and the Knesset sworn in next week.
Responding to the statement, a Likud spokesperson said it was “highly perplexing” that Sohlberg would “preemptively determine that [the allegations] had no impact on the election result” and that “a black cloud hangs over the results” until the investigation is completed.
To get more Israel news, click here to sign up for our free Israel Briefing newsletter.