On a Tuesday when the Knesset opened its new session, the old wounds of Israeli politics were laid bare in a single room: Israeli-Arab lawmakers walking out during the anthem, shouting matches, and a former army chief named Gadi Eisenkot reaching for the levers of power after years of war and anger. Israel has long been a country where security and democracy argue with each other, and this session carried that argument into a new chapter, asking whether a nation can rebuild trust with the very people it has so often kept at a distance. Whether the arithmetic of 61 seats will ever settle the qu
Eisenkot's bloc opens new Knesset with legislative push against Netanyahu's legacy and October 7 probe
Arab-Israeli lawmakers walked out as children sang the anthem
Mark
Why does the opening day matter if nobody has the votes to govern yet?
Mimi
Because the bloc used it to set an agenda. It submitted an independent October 7 commission and a repeal of the judicial overhaul, and said it had the votes for Matan Kahana as speaker.
Mark
The commission seems the sharpest of those. Why?
Mimi
Netanyahu has opposed an independent probe for a long time. He denies wrongdoing and wants a politically appointed commission instead. So this goes straight at a dispute he has already taken a side on.
Luke
Careful, though. These are proposals submitted, not laws passed. Nothing here says they will survive a vote.
Mimi
Fair. The speaker's election is described as expected to pass, not as done.
Mark
And that depends on Arab-Israeli lawmakers?
Mimi
Yes, and that is the fracture. Liberman, inside Eisenkot's bloc, refuses to serve in a government that relies on them. Ben Gvir heckled Jabareen. Abbas said his party wants to be part of the solution.
Luke
So the bloc's majority and its unity may be different things. The reporting does not say how Liberman's refusal changes the count.
Mimi
Right, and neither side has 61 votes.
Mark
What about Netanyahu's Iran argument?
Luke
That is his framing, and the report notes Iran denies seeking nuclear weapons. His claim about coming international pressure is a prediction, not a fact.
Mimi
The clock is concrete, though: 28 days, extendable by 14.
El Pulso
- Lawmakers walked out during the national anthem and shouting erupted, turning the first session into a contest of raw nerves.
- Eisenkot's Yashar bloc pushed for an independent October 7 probe and sweeping repeal of the judicial overhaul, striking directly at Netanyahu's legacy.
- The speaker vote depends on Israeli-Arab lawmakers, a dependence that has drawn fierce fire from the right and from within Eisenkot's own bloc.
- Neither Eisenkot nor Netanyahu holds the 61 seats needed, and Herzog's 28-day window, extendable by 14, is now the clock everyone is racing against.
- The looming threat of a repeat election hangs over every negotiation, with Herzog urging compromise even between bitter rivals.
On a Tuesday when the Knesset opened its new session, the old wounds of Israeli politics were laid bare in a single room: Israeli-Arab lawmakers walking out during the anthem, shouting matches, and a former army chief named Gadi Eisenkot reaching for the levers of power after years of war and anger. Israel has long been a country where security and democracy argue with each other, and this session carried that argument into a new chapter, asking whether a nation can rebuild trust with the very people it has so often kept at a distance. Whether the arithmetic of 61 seats will ever settle the question, or whether the country will be sent back to the polls, remains open, and the answer will say as much about the country's hopes for compromise as about any single politician.
On Tuesday, as the Knesset opened its new session with the national anthem, a group of Israeli-Arab lawmakers rose and walked out rather than stand. Within minutes, Avigdor Liberman was online asking whether his former allies would really govern with them. The chamber was loud from the start, and the shouting never fully stopped.
The day belonged to Gadi Eisenkot, the former army chief who is new to politics and low-key by temperament. His Yashar party submitted a wave of proposals aimed at Netanyahu's legacy, including an independent commission on the security failures behind the October 7 attack, which remains the deadliest day in Israel's history. Netanyahu has resisted such a probe and prefers a commission appointed by politicians. Yashar also moved to repeal the judicial overhaul that had once drawn some of the largest protests in Israel's history.
But the arithmetic is the real fault line. Eisenkot's bloc believes it can install Matan Kahana as speaker, a vote expected to pass with the support of Israeli-Arab lawmakers, whose numbers have reached historic highs. That reliance has angered Netanyahu's base and some of Eisenkot's own right-leaning backers, and Liberman has refused to serve in any government that depends on them. Ben Gvir heckled Joint List leader Yousef Jabareen before order was restored, while Mansour Abbas of Raam said he hoped to be part of the solution.
Neither Eisenkot nor Netanyahu yet has the 61 seats needed. President Herzog gave Eisenkot 28 days, extendable by 14, and urged lawmakers to avoid a repeat election. Netanyahu, for his part, called for a national-unity government and warned of Iran's nuclear threat. Eisenkot called his remarks shameful and said Netanyahu was unfit to stay in office. Whether Eisenkot can build a coalition in time, or Israel returns to the polls, will be decided in the weeks ahead.
On Tuesday, as children sang the national anthem in the Knesset's opening session, a number of Israeli-Arab lawmakers rose from their seats and walked out so they would not have to stand for it. Within minutes, Avigdor Liberman had posted the news online with a pointed question: "You want to form a government with them?" The moment captured the tension of a first session that was heated from the start, with shouting breaking out between lawmakers.
The session was the first test of a new political order. Gadi Eisenkot, the former army chief, is 66, low-key, and only recently in politics. He and his allies used the day to open a legislative offensive against caretaker Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's legacy. Eisenkot's Yashar party said it had submitted a slew of proposals, among them an independent commission to investigate the security failures that allowed the Hamas attack of October 7, 2023, the deadliest day in Israel's history. Netanyahu has long opposed such a probe. He denies wrongdoing and has called instead for a commission appointed by politicians.
Yashar also moved to repeal, sweepingly, the judicial overhaul pushed through by Netanyahu's government. That overhaul set off some of the largest protests in Israel's history before three years of war overshadowed it. Eisenkot's bloc, which spans left to right, also announced it had the votes to install Matan Kahana, another former senior military figure, as speaker.
The arithmetic behind that confidence is the story's fault line. The speaker's election is expected to pass thanks to Israeli-Arab lawmakers, whose numbers have reached historic highs amid anger at Netanyahu's far-right government. Their role has provoked fierce opposition from Netanyahu's base and even from right-wing supporters of Eisenkot. Liberman, a member of Eisenkot's bloc and now a staunch critic of his former mentor Netanyahu despite sharing his hawkish views, has refused to serve in any government that relies on them.
The confrontation spilled into the chamber. Itamar Ben Gvir, the far-right caretaker national security minister and a Netanyahu ally, loudly heckled Yousef Jabareen, leader of the Joint List, the largest Arab-majority grouping. "Who is he pledging allegiance to, Hamas?" Ben Gvir shouted before order was restored. Mansour Abbas, who leads the Israeli-Arab party Raam and is generally seen as more moderate, promised to work to replace the Netanyahu government. "We aspire to be part of the solution," he said.
Neither Eisenkot nor Netanyahu, Israel's longest-serving prime minister with nearly two decades in power, holds the 61 votes needed to form a government. Before his swearing-in, Eisenkot said he was committed to forming a national-emergency government as quickly as possible. President Isaac Herzog, whose role is largely ceremonial, tasked him on Sunday with building a coalition, giving him 28 days, extendable by 14. Opening the session, Herzog urged lawmakers to "do everything to avoid a repeat election" and to reach out a hand for compromise even between rivals.
Netanyahu, speaking after the session, pushed instead for a national-unity government. He argued that Israel must confront a threat from Iran's clerical government, which has survived two major Israeli bombing campaigns he ordered with US President Donald Trump's support. He warned that Israel would soon face international pressure to accept a nuclear-armed Iran. Iran denies seeking nuclear weapons, and both Netanyahu and Trump have previously boasted that its programme was devastated.
Netanyahu's political survival is at stake, and he could face jail time if convicted on corruption charges once out of power. He also appeared to acknowledge a shifting diplomatic reality after US Democrats soundly defeated Trump in midterm elections last week, on the back of anger over the war. Eisenkot called the remarks a "shameful" exploitation of the occasion and evidence that Netanyahu was "unfit to remain in office for even one more minute." The next weeks will show whether Eisenkot can assemble 61 votes within his window, or whether Israel heads back to the polls.
Citas Notables
I am committed in this complex situation to form a national-emergency government as quickly as possible.— Gadi Eisenkot, before his swearing-in
We aspire to be part of the solution.— Mansour Abbas, Raam leader
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