Arabic version: نتنياهو يواجه ضغوطاً مع سعي آيزنكوت لتشكيل الحكومة الإسرائيلية

According to Al Jazeera, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is seeking to retain political influence after former Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot was tasked by President Isaac Herzog on Saturday with forming a government that can command the Knesset. The opposition bloc edged out Netanyahu’s ruling coalition in October’s election.

Netanyahu has recently called for national unity, while warning in a social media video that Israel faced a risk of civil war if a government were formed with support from Arab parties. He accused those parties of wanting to “eliminate the State of Israel”. Two days later, he urged leaders of the more successful bloc to join a unified government under his leadership, alongside ultra-Orthodox parties and his far-right allies Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir.

Attention is focused on ultra-Orthodox, or haredim, parties, which have traditionally backed Netanyahu in return for measures shielding young male yeshiva students from the military draft. United Torah Judaism, which did not endorse Netanyahu to form a government, is reported to be preparing to support Eisenkot. Former Israeli government adviser Daniel Levy described the coalition talks as political strategy, leverage and spin, while pollster Mitchell Barak said Netanyahu was negotiating from a weakened position.

The new Knesset is due to be sworn in on Tuesday. Al Jazeera reported that opposition figures want Matan Kahana of Eisenkot’s Yashar party installed on the first day of parliamentary business; Kahana supports a state inquiry into alleged government failings before the October 7 Hamas-led attack. Netanyahu also faces multiple corruption charges, which he denies. Political analyst Nimrod Flaschenberg said Netanyahu appeared “a bit lost”, while Levy said there was no appetite on the other side for a unity government with him.