Former Israeli Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot has categorically ruled out joining a government headed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, vowing to resign within an hour if he breaks that pledge, as opposition leaders coordinate their efforts ahead of Israel’s October 27 election.
“I will not sit in a government headed by Netanyahu, not even under a rotation agreement,” Eisenkot, leader of the Yashar party, told Israeli 103FM radio on Wednesday.
“If I do, play this clip—and I will resign within an hour,” he added.
The remarks come amid growing tensions within the opposition bloc over the possibility of joining a unity government with Netanyahu after the election.
Joint Call by Eisenkot, Liberman
Eisenkot and Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Liberman met on Tuesday to discuss election preparations, according to a joint statement issued by their parties.
The meeting followed a public spat last week, when Liberman accused Eisenkot of planning to join a Likud-led unity government, dubbing him “Gantz 2” in reference to Blue and White leader Benny Gantz’s previous decisions to join Netanyahu-led governments.
In their joint statement, Eisenkot and Liberman stressed that “the most important effort now is to increase voter turnout,” urging voters to support one of the four parties in their bloc and avoid casting ballots for parties that fail to cross the electoral threshold.
Other Opposition Parties
The bloc also includes former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s B’Yachad party and Yair Golan’s Democrats. The two leaders pledged to continue cooperating to secure victory and replace what they called “the government of failure,” referring to Netanyahu’s government.
Recent polls project the four main opposition Zionist parties, alongside Yoaz Hendel’s Reservists-Economic party, at around 58 seats, compared with approximately 49 for Netanyahu’s coalition. Both camps remain short of the 61 seats needed for a parliamentary majority.
Hendel has yet to declare which bloc he would support, but has made a universal military conscription law a condition for joining any government—a demand at odds with Netanyahu’s reliance on ultra-Orthodox parties that oppose conscription.
Source: Al-Manar English Website