Eisenkot and Netanyahu negotiators end first unity talks without a deal

First meeting ends without a deal

Negotiators from Gadi Eisenkot's Yashar party and Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud met on 15 November for about an hour, their first session on forming a unity government. The two sides reached no agreement but committed to keep talking. In a short joint statement they described the meeting as held in a 'constructive atmosphere' and said talks between the sides would continue. The statement gave no details of the issues discussed and did not say whether any progress had been made in narrowing the gap between Eisenkot and Netanyahu. Representatives of Naftali Bennett's B'Yachad also took part.

Who sat at the table

Yashar was represented by MK Chili Tropper and Yoav Horowitz, who previously served as Netanyahu's chief of staff and has since become an ally of Eisenkot. Likud sent Ofir Katz, chairman of its parliamentary group, and Michael Rabello, a former personal lawyer to Netanyahu. Rabello had only recently withdrawn his candidacy for state comptroller. The Supreme Court had frozen his appointment in July after petitions argued that several Likud MKs filmed themselves while voting in a process meant to be secret, and Rabello is not an elected member of the Knesset. Salom Shlomo, a former government secretary, also attended, and one report describes him as a close associate of Bennett.

Bennett and Liberman pull in different directions

Avigdor Liberman, leader of Yisrael Beytenu, opposed the meeting, Channel 13 reported, and told Eisenkot it was a trap set by Netanyahu. Liberman reportedly said the main goal was to end the Netanyahu era and that his party had no interest in keeping him on life support. Channel 12 reported that Bennett wants the opposition bloc to take a unity government with Netanyahu seriously, on condition that Eisenkot serves first as prime minister under a rotation deal. Bennett prefers that option to an alliance with Arab or ultra-Orthodox parties, but will not join Likud without his bloc partners. Likud, for its part, told Yashar that none of Netanyahu's coalition parties should be left out of any unity arrangement.

Seat arithmetic and the Iran factor

Neither bloc won a majority in the 27 October election. Kathimerini reports that the wider opposition bloc holds 67 seats including 19 from Arab parties, while 61 are needed to form a coalition. Some opposition parties rule out working with others, so Eisenkot currently has 48 seats, against 53 for Netanyahu's bloc.

Opposition bloc, incl. Arab parties67

Majority threshold61

Netanyahu's bloc53

Eisenkot's current seats48

Opposition bloc, incl. Arab parties

67 seats

Majority threshold

61 seats

Netanyahu's bloc

53 seats

Eisenkot's current seats

48 seats

Data from the article text

Kathimerini argues that the outcome will depend on the stance of the Arab parties and on decisions Donald Trump takes on Iran, adding that the answer lies in Washington rather than Israel. Shalom Lipner, a senior associate at the Atlantic Council and a former adviser to seven successive Israeli prime ministers, told Kathimerini that every route to Eisenkot's success remains very difficult. He said a minority government would be unstable, that new elections are unlikely to improve the opposition's prospects, and that weeks if not months will pass before the picture clears.

Finance committee and protest tent

The Knesset Finance Committee holds its first session on 16 November under the chairmanship of Liran Avisar Ben-Horin. Channel 12 reported that the committee will ask Finance Ministry officials whether and when US military aid is expected to end. The same report said that funds pledged under agreements of the previous Knesset, and not yet disbursed, will not be approved for now. Separately, Likud MK Elisha Medan, a reservist in the Israel Defense Forces who lost both legs in combat, said on Saturday, 14 November, that he would set up a protest tent outside the Knesset demanding a unity government. Yashar then invited Likud to send Medan to the 15 November meeting, and the sources do not say whether he attended.