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Gadi Eisenkot
The media are already publishing photos of the next 120 members of the Knesset, but with the list being updated pending the counting of the approximately 480 thousand envelopes with the votes of soldiers, diplomats stationed abroad, hospitalized patients and prisoners. The remaining 86 percent of the votes have been counted: 53 seats go to Netanyahu’s bloc, 48 to Gadi Eisenkot’s Change Bloc and 19 to the Arab parties. At the current state of accounts, the prime minister’s Likud remains the largest party with 26 seats, the former IDF head’s Yashar gains 21, the three allied Arab parties in the Joint List, 12 seats and Ra’am 7. In fact, so far a real winner has not emerged from these elections. Eisenkot’s Bloc failed to overthrow Bibi, but Netanyahu did not win either.
Herzog’s move and Trump’s shadow
Now it’s up to president Isaac Herzog to take matters into his own hands. Commentators point out that there is also a second president, Donald Trump, at stake. Who after the sensational message of endorsement of the current “warrior prime minister”, sent one behind the scenes: he hates Itamar Ben Gvir and he doesn’t like Bezalel Smotrich either. Briefly interviewed by Axios on Wednesday about the possibility of his involvement in the formation of a unity government led by Netanyahu, Trump replied that he hadn’t thought about it yet: “I’ll take a look,” he added.
Herzog for his part clarified: «One thing must be clear, we must do everything possible to avoid another election. I expect anyone who comes here to present themselves with an open mind.” Meanwhile, Israeli public television has revealed that the president is expected to meet Benjamin Netanyahu and Gadi Eisenkot in the next few days, even before the consultations – separately – to begin testing the feasibility of a national unity government.
Netanyahu against the Arab parties
Benjamin Netanyahu, who reached the Likud headquarters in Jerusalem during the night and in his first statement stated that we must now “form a broad right-wing national government avoiding the support of Arab parties”, reiterated the concept on Wednesday by accusing a member of the Arab Joint List for a video in which he praised the Palestinian people and the terrorists who are in prison: “It is with these individuals that they (the opposition) intend to form a dangerous government. We will not allow this to happen,” he said. Then the Likud denounced that “the elections were stolen by Arab parties that support terrorism and the elimination of the Jewish state through serious criminal crimes: corruption, threats, violence, forgery and the use of prohibited software to solicit voters.” Announcing that he is providing the police and Shin Bet with hundreds of testimonies and evidence of electoral fraud in numerous Arab polling stations. The words of the president of the Joint List, Yousef Jabareen, were harsh: «Anyone who wants to offer a substantial and authentic alternative to Netanyahu’s bloody government will have to talk to us to pave the way for the change that the Israeli people ardently desire».
The Iran scenario
The complexity of the situation, however, does not only lie in the internal conflict. On Tuesday evening the Wall Street Journal reported that the US had told the Gulf states to prepare for a “short and intense” military campaign after the mid-term elections on November 3. During the night, Netanyahu returned to the theme from the Likud headquarters: «We have before us a historic possibility of putting an end, with our friend Trump, to the Iranian threat».
In Israel, a new conflict with Tehran is not a question of “if” but of choosing the date. Legally, a provisional government can go to war. A conflict in this delicate period could lead to the formation of a national unity or emergency government, as happened in October 2023. On that occasion Gadi Eisenkot entered Bibi’s executive, together with Benny Gantz, and participated as an observer of the war cabinet. Netanyahu’s critics, the Israeli media report, fear that this type of government could be one of the possible targets of a military campaign.