Eisenkot and Liberman Reportedly Meet, Express Confidence in Four-Year Government

Gadi Eisenkot, chairman of Yashar, and Avigdor Liberman, chairman of Yisrael Beytenu, reportedly met on Monday, November 9, for talks on forming a government. A statement attributed to Yashar described their discussion as constructive and said both leaders expressed full confidence in their ability to establish a stable government for a four-year term. The meeting followed President Isaac Herzog’s formal assignment of the government-formation task to Eisenkot on November 8 at the President’s Residence in Jerusalem. Herzog said factions representing 67 incoming lawmakers had recommended Eisenkot, while 46 recommended Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and a faction representing seven recommended neither candidate. He acknowledged that Netanyahu’s Likud was the largest faction in the incoming Knesset. At the November 8 ceremony, Herzog identified military-service needs, relations between the branches of government and strengthening the economy among the challenges facing the next administration. He called for a stable government serving people across sectors, faiths and ways of life, including those who had not supported it, and offered to help efforts to unite the country. In his own November 8 statement, Eisenkot called for leadership emphasizing what Israelis share and opening a new era of Zionism, solidarity and fellowship. Eisenkot wrote: “The task is difficult and much work remains, but I believe success is within reach.”