🗳️ LIKUD SEEKS TO DISQUALIFY ARAB LISTS: Likud announced that it will submit petitions to disqualify the Joint List and Ra’am from running in the elections. The party accused them of harming IDF soldiers and being unable to say that Hamas and Hezbollah are terrorist organizations, arguing that they have no place in the Knesset.
Likud also described the lists as supporters of terrorism and Eisenkot’s natural coalition partners, alleging that he wants to form a government with them, Yair Golan and Avigdor Lieberman. The accompanying political commentary described the move as also intended to embarrass Eisenkot, Bennett and Lieberman.
🗳️ SURPLUS-VOTE AGREEMENTS SET, COALITION QUESTIONS REMAIN: On Thursday, September 10, opposition parties announced agreements pairing Naftali Bennett’s Beyachad with Lieberman’s Yisrael Beiteinu, and Gadi Eisenkot’s Yashar! with Golan’s Democrats, according to Walla.
Yashar! said the arrangements reflected lessons from previous elections and aimed to maximize the camp’s representation and help replace Netanyahu’s government. Ra’am and the Joint List signed their own agreement on Friday, September 11, also committing to a fair campaign without personal attacks or incitement.
These agreements can improve paired parties’ chances of receiving additional seats in the final allocation. Both parties must independently cross the electoral threshold; an agreement cannot save votes cast for a party that falls below it, according to the Israel Democracy Institute. Cooperation over seat allocation leaves unresolved which parties would join a government together.
📊 POLLS SHOW WIDE DIFFERENCES: A Globes review published September 13 placed Likud and Yashar! level at 23 seats in its polling average. Its bloc calculation gave Netanyahu’s camp, including Ofer Winter, 56 seats, the non-Arab opposition 52 and the Arab parties 12.
The average concealed substantial differences. The reviewed polls placed Netanyahu’s camp at 50 seats in Maariv, 52–53 in Channels 11, 12 and 13, 60 in i24NEWS and 64 in Channel 14. The surveys therefore do not support a blanket claim that every poll predicts deadlock.
🔸 MINORITY-GOVERNMENT SCENARIOS: In his September 11 column, political commentator Amit Segal examined the coalition implications of Chili Tropper’s move into Eisenkot’s list. He highlighted the tension between Tropper’s camp’s previous opposition to a minority government enabled by Arab-party abstentions and the minority-government scenario he described around Eisenkot.
Segal suggested that efforts to broaden a coalition could involve Likud or right-wing parties, with a temporary minority government as a possible fallback. He identified Bennett’s and Lieberman’s stated opposition to such a move as a central obstacle. These were analytical scenarios, not an agreed coalition arrangement.
🗳️ LIKUD URGES EISENKOT TO CANCEL AGREEMENT OVER DOCUMENTARY DISPUTE: On Monday, Likud called on Eisenkot to cancel Yashar!’s surplus-vote agreement with the Democrats over comments by the party’s candidates concerning the documentary “Naza,” according to Srugim.
Those comments included defending public debate and opposing attacks on the filmmakers. Candidate Moshe Radman explicitly said he did not know whether the film was fair or accurate.
Earlier Monday, Eisenkot himself criticized the filmmakers, accusing them of presenting a distorted, one-sided account and damaging the reputation of IDF soldiers. His statement addressed the film; it did not announce cancellation of the surplus-vote agreement.
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