In brief
Opposition campaigner Gadi Eisenkot announced on Saturday that he will form the broadest government his party can, relying on a parliamentary majority that includes a record number of Arab seats. He plans to use that majority to establish a state commission into the October 7 attack, impose mandatory service and repeal the judicial overhaul that Netanyahu championed. The plan relies on cooperation from Arab-led parties who are a significant block of the Knesset.
In Israel’s Knesset, opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot announced on Saturday his intent to build the widest possible coalition, arguing that a parliamentary majority can drive a series of reforms that the governing bloc has avoided.
Eisenkot’s bloc, the opposition “New Horizon”, won 48 seats in the 120‑member parliament, compared with 53 seats held by the coalition led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The margin is narrow, but Eisenkot pointed to a “clear parliamentary majority” he believes exists when the 19 seats won by Arab‑led parties—namely the Joint List, a coalition of three parties, and the Muslim‑Ra’am party—are counted as part of his base.
According to Eisenkot, a little more than half a million voters in the most recent election opted against Netanyahu’s government, a figure he derived to emphasise public rejection of the ruling coalition’s direction. He posted the comparison on social media, noting that he could “pursue what I call a clear parliamentary majority to advance several key initiatives” even without forming a new government outright.
His primary agenda includes establishing a state commission of inquiry into the Oct. 7 attack, which killed 1,400 Israeli civilians and prompted a major security backlash. The inquiry is seen as a way to investigate failures and provide accountability for the event that changed the country’s security calculus.
Eisenkot also wants to mandate national service for all Israeli citizens regardless of age or background, arguing that such a program would foster a broader sense of civic duty and reduce the current reliance on volunteer battalions that have played a pivotal role in past conflicts.
Another pillar of his platform is repealing the judicial overhaul legislation that Netanyahu’s government championed last year. The overhaul was criticised for shifting power from the judiciary to the legislature and, according to Eisenkot, undermining checks and balances essential to Israel’s democracy.
The Arab‑led parties—especially Ra’am and the Joint List—have been outspoken critics of the Netanyahu‑backed reforms, and they welcomed Eisenkot’s rhetoric of inclusivity. Eisenkot stressed that in Israel the parliament grants confidence to the government, not the reverse, implying that approval must come from the Knesset as a whole.
In an interview reported by the Times of Israel, a Yashar party chief voiced readiness to cooperate with any member of the Knesset who accepts his conditions, signalling a willingness from one of Israel’s notable Islamist parties to participate in a larger coalition if the right policy agreements are reached.
The strategy hinges on building a workable majority that can secure confidence and pass legislation while avoiding a direct coalition that may be intolerable for some parties. Eisenkot’s comments also suggested he was careful not to bill the plan as an outright takeover, but rather as a parliamentary majority governance model.
As Israel’s political landscape continues to shift, the opposition voices that a new governing format could bring a decisive shift in policy direction, especially on security, democratic checks and the country’s long‑term civic structures.
