Gadi Eisenkot Cancels Coalition Talks With Benjamin Netanyahu
Gadi Eisenkot canceled government formation negotiations with the Likud party after labeling Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Knesset speech as divisive and hateful.
Government formation talks in Israel collapsed on November 10, 2026, after Gadi Eisenkot, chairman of the Yashar party, canceled scheduled negotiations with the Likud party. Eisenkot, who holds the formal mandate from President Isaac Herzog to form a government, characterized Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's address at the Knesset swearing-in ceremony as divisive, hateful, and disgraceful, asserting that Netanyahu prioritized his own political survival over national unity.
Likud responded by stating that Netanyahu remains committed to a national unity government but maintained that cooperation is impossible with supporters of terrorism or those who walked out during the singing of the national anthem, Hatikvah. Netanyahu further urged the formation of a unity government to confront the threat of a nuclear-armed Iran, a proposal Eisenkot dismissed as a shameful attempt to cling to power.
As the mandate holder, Eisenkot leads a four-party alliance with 48 seats, while Netanyahu's right-wing bloc holds 53. Neither side has the 61 votes required for a majority. Eisenkot has pledged to launch an official inquiry into the security failures of the October 7, 2023, Hamas attacks and proposed reversing Netanyahu's judicial overhaul and imposing prime ministerial term limits. While Eisenkot could potentially reach a majority with 19 Arab-Israeli lawmakers, ally Avigdor Liberman has refused to serve in a government relying on Arab-majority parties.
