On the day Israel's newly elected parliament took its seats, a long-standing rivalry hardened into open challenge: Gadi Eisenkot, leader of the Yashar party, branded the caretaker prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu unfit to remain in office, while Netanyahu pressed for a national unity government in the shadow of Iran's nuclear program. The moment reflects a familiar pattern in democratic life, where a nation facing an external danger is asked to close ranks even as its citizens remain divided over past failures and the direction of their government. Whether that division becomes a reckoning or
Eisenkot Declares Netanyahu Unfit to Govern, Calls for Emergency Unity Government as New Knesset Convenes
Neither man has an outright majority.
Mark
Netanyahu asked for unity and Eisenkot answered with a demand for an emergency government. Aren't those close to the same thing?
Mimi
In name, perhaps. But Netanyahu's unity government would form around him, citing the Iran threat. Eisenkot wants Netanyahu out, and says he shouldn't stay in office a minute longer.
Luke
Worth noting that the harshest language here is Eisenkot's own characterization. Delusional and hate-filled is his judgment of the speech, not a finding.
Mark
What does Yashar actually want to do?
Mimi
Two things are named: a commission of inquiry into the failures before October 7, 2023, and a rollback of the judicial overhaul that drew some of the largest protests in Israel's history.
Luke
And Netanyahu has long opposed that inquiry. That's the real fault line, more than the speech.
Mark
Does Eisenkot have the votes?
Mimi
Not yet, by this account. He leads a broad bloc and expects support from Israeli-Arab parties, but neither man has an outright majority.
Luke
Right, and 'expected to play a significant role' is a forecast, not a count. The report gives no seat numbers, so we can't say how close either side is.
Mark
So what decides it?
Mimi
The balance of seats in the new parliament, and who can assemble a coalition from it.
O Pulso
- Eisenkot dismissed Netanyahu's opening-session speech as delusional and shameful, declaring him unfit for office after just one address.
- Netanyahu uses the ceremonial start of parliament to warn of a nuclear-armed Iran and push for a national unity government.
- Eisenkot's Yashar party moves to open a formal inquiry into the failures before the October 7 attack and to repeal the judicial overhaul.
- Neither leader holds an outright majority, so the scramble for coalition partners will determine who forms the next government.
On the day Israel's newly elected parliament took its seats, a long-standing rivalry hardened into open challenge: Gadi Eisenkot, leader of the Yashar party, branded the caretaker prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu unfit to remain in office, while Netanyahu pressed for a national unity government in the shadow of Iran's nuclear program. The moment reflects a familiar pattern in democratic life, where a nation facing an external danger is asked to close ranks even as its citizens remain divided over past failures and the direction of their government. Whether that division becomes a reckoning or a compromise depends on arithmetic no speech can settle, since neither man commands a majority and the seats will decide who leads next.
On Tuesday, as Israel's newly elected parliament was sworn in, Gadi Eisenkot sat through a speech by caretaker prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and left angrier than he arrived. He called the address delusional, divisive and shameful, accusing Netanyahu of using a state occasion for his own purposes. In his view, the speech only confirmed that Netanyahu should not hold office for one more minute.
Netanyahu had used the opening session to renew his call for a national unity government, citing Iran. He warned that Israel could soon face international pressure to accept a nuclear-armed Iran and a regime he described as seeking its annihilation. Having overseen two major bombing campaigns in the past year with US backing, he presented himself as the leader the moment required.
Eisenkot answered with the opposite proposal. Instead of joining a unity arrangement under Netanyahu, he urged lawmakers to form an emergency government, one he hopes to assemble himself. His party, Yashar, is pressing for a formal inquiry into the intelligence and security failures before the October 7 attack, an investigation Netanyahu has long resisted, and it plans to roll back the judicial overhaul that sparked some of Israel's largest protests.
For now, the arithmetic is unresolved. Neither man has a majority, and the balance of seats will decide whether unity or an alternative coalition prevails.
On Tuesday, as Israel's newly elected parliament was sworn in, Gadi Eisenkot sat through a speech by the caretaker prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and came out of it angrier than he went in. He called the address delusional, divisive, hate-filled and shameful, and said Netanyahu had exploited a state occasion. Having listened to it, he said, he was even more convinced that Netanyahu was unfit to remain in office for one more minute.
The speech Eisenkot was answering had been built around a different message. Earlier in the day, Netanyahu used the opening session to renew his call for a national unity government. His reasoning was Iran. He warned that in the very near future Israel would face international pressure to accept a nuclear-armed Iran and the survival of what he called a terror regime seeking Israel's annihilation. Netanyahu is Israel's longest-serving prime minister, and since last year he has overseen two major bombing campaigns with US backing.
Eisenkot's reply went in the opposite direction. Rather than joining a unity arrangement under Netanyahu, he urged lawmakers to form an emergency government. He is trying to assemble the next government himself, and his criticism was aimed at what he described as a leader who used a ceremonial moment to deepen divisions instead of closing them.
His party, Yashar, has also put forward a substantive agenda. It is moving to start a formal inquiry into the security and intelligence failures that preceded Hamas's attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. The party has gained influence in the new parliament and is pushing for a commission of inquiry into how the attack became possible. Netanyahu has long opposed such an investigation.
Yashar has also announced plans to roll back Netanyahu's judicial overhaul. That proposal set off some of the largest protests in Israel's history, so repealing it would reopen one of the most bitter fights in the country's recent politics.
The new parliament convened amid an intensifying struggle over who will govern. Eisenkot leads a broad bloc that spans the political spectrum, and he is expected to play a significant role in shaping the parliamentary agenda, with support from Israeli-Arab parties.
But the arithmetic remains unsettled. Neither Eisenkot nor Netanyahu has an outright majority in the new legislature. The two men are on opposing paths: Netanyahu is advocating a national unity government, while Eisenkot is working to build an alternative coalition and challenge his leadership. How the seats are balanced will decide which of them forms the next government.
Citações Notáveis
I am now even more convinced that he is unfit to remain in office for even one more minute.— Gadi Eisenkot, on Netanyahu
In the very near future, we're going to be confronted by international pressure to accept a nuclear-armed Iran.— Benjamin Netanyahu, caretaker prime minister
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