Liberman Reportedly Stops Taking Calls From Bennett and Eisenkot

Yisrael Beytenu chairman Avigdor Liberman reportedly stopped taking calls from Naftali Bennett and Gadi Eisenkot on Wednesday, October 28, as their parties considered their options after the election. The reported break in direct contact came while opposition parties were discussing how to organize their parliamentary efforts in the incoming Knesset. Liberman was reported to be maintaining two limits on coalition negotiations: he would not join a government headed by Benjamin Netanyahu, and he would not help establish a government dependent on Arab parties. Rather than commit to another political initiative, he was reportedly choosing to wait. The reported strategy also extended to the possibility of an opposition leader entering a Netanyahu government. Liberman was said to prefer that Eisenkot, rather than he himself, take that step if it happened. He also reportedly saw no practical path to replacing Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana under the emerging parliamentary composition. Earlier on Wednesday, representatives of Eisenkot’s Yashar, Liberman’s Yisrael Beytenu and Bennett’s Together had held staff-level discussions about parliamentary strategy. Those contacts included an effort to replace the speaker when the incoming Knesset is sworn in. Other opposition parties sought the change, while Likud intended to resist it.