🕑 Published: September 16, 2026 · 12:12 AM Israel time
🗳️ EISENKOT FACTION COMMITMENTS AND BLOC ASSESSMENT: Eisenkot’s campaign manager reportedly told party-list members that a proposal to have them sign a commitment to resign from the Knesset rather than oppose the faction when a government is sworn in had been considered and dropped.
The alternative is an ethics code requiring members not to vote against the faction’s position, alongside a personal commitment to Eisenkot to resign if supporting the formation of such a government conflicts with their conscience.
A separate electoral assessment puts Eisenkot’s bloc at 54 seats, down from 60 within a month, attributing the decline mainly to Ofer Winter, Yaron Zelekha and the formation of the Joint List. The assessment did not identify the polling series behind that comparison.
🗳️ LIKUD AND OTZMA YEHUDIT CLASH OVER THE NEXT GOVERNMENT: Likud said Netanyahu has repeatedly committed to forming the next government with the existing parties of the national camp. It urged Itamar Ben-Gvir to focus on preventing a government led by Eisenkot with Yair Golan, Avigdor Lieberman and the Arab parties.
Otzma Yehudit accused the Prime Minister’s Office of sending conflicting signals about Ben-Gvir’s inclusion in the next coalition:
“The Prime Minister’s Office’s method—on the one hand, sending messages to countries around the world that Ben-Gvir will not be in the next government, campaigning in favor of a unity government, and avoiding joint appearances and photos with Minister Ben-Gvir, while on the other hand issuing empty statements that Ben-Gvir will be in the next government—shows profound contempt for right-wing voters. Unfortunately, the fact is that Netanyahu wants Eisenkot in the next government instead of Ben-Gvir—the same Eisenkot who signed a surplus-vote agreement with Yair Golan. Neither Netanyahu nor Eisenkot denies this. It is time for Netanyahu to publicly commit that he will not sit in a government with Gadi Eisenkot and Yair Golan.”
🗳️ WINTER DISPUTES WITH LIKUD AND LIEBERMAN: Ofer Winter criticized Lieberman: “He is misleading his voters. Anyone relying on senior partners like Yair Golan cannot achieve a decisive victory.”
Winter also alleged attempts to intimidate and break apart his party: “They tried to break us apart, they tried to intimidate us, they sent private investigators—but we are as strong as a clenched fist.”
After the allegation was reported as accusing Likud of sending investigators, Likud denied it and demanded a retraction, threatening a defamation lawsuit. It also accused Winter of undermining the right’s electoral prospects instead of opposing a government involving Eisenkot, Golan, Lieberman and the Arab parties. Winter subsequently said he had not stated at any point in his speech that Likud sent private investigators to his home.
Lieberman responded: “Anyone who can’t achieve a decisive victory in three years never will. Learn to withstand pressure and start telling the truth.”
Winter’s “Your fellow Jews” party replied: “Avigdor, tell your voters the truth. You can’t defeat the enemy when your senior partners are Yair Golan, Gaby Lasky, and Mansour Abbas. You can only exert influence from within a right-wing government.”
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