🔹 Bennett challenges rotation talk as Eisenkot rejects Netanyahu’s leadership
After Eisenkot’s No. 2 did not categorically rule out a rotation agreement with Netanyahu, Bennett said: “This kind of talk is very troubling to me. All this discussion makes it harder to form a Zionist government.”
Bennett and Liberman met today. Bennett’s office said they discussed the steps needed to secure an election victory and other issues on the current agenda.
Speaking to Kan Bet, Eisenkot said:
“A rotation is not on the agenda. As a matter of principle—and I have said this dozens of times in the past—I fundamentally oppose this whole device of having an alternate prime minister. I oppose rotation. A prime minister should be elected for four years so that they can implement plans and advance domestic and regional initiatives.
“So these are two separate statements: Netanyahu, like all members of the cabinet on October 7, is unfit to lead. And regarding rotation—I am unequivocally opposed to an alternation government and to a rotation, and to all the tricks and gimmicks that have accompanied us in recent years.”
Eisenkot accused Bennett and Liberman of undermining their electoral prospects: “They are hurting the chances of winning”. He also criticized Bennett’s role in the previous government: “He played along with the manipulation in the ‘change government.’ Lapid should have become prime minister then. I will not allow a prime minister with six seats—it’s undemocratic.”
🔹 Eisenkot proposes an ethical code requiring departing lawmakers to return their seats
Following Amit Segal’s report, Eisenkot was asked how he would prevent “Shiklis and Silmans” in his own party. In a response also directed at Bennett, he said:
“Silman, Shikli, and their associates would not have been in my party. I think what Shikli and Silman did was disgraceful. We will have an ethical code requiring anyone who disagrees with the party’s path and wants to leave the party not to defect, but rather to return their Knesset seat.”
His criticism contrasts with his recent statement about Shikli: “I respect him for his principled decision to leave.”
🔹 Yisrael Beiteinu sets coalition conditions; Golan urges opposition unity
Responding to Eisenkot’s remarks, Yisrael Beiteinu said:
“Avigdor Liberman has no ego and has experience, and experience teaches us that pressure must not be projected at any stage. Yisrael Beiteinu is committed to forming a Zionist government without Netanyahu, the Arab parties, or the Haredi parties—one that will pass a conscription law applying to everyone, with no quotas, no targets, and no exemptions for anyone, and that will establish a state commission of inquiry in accordance with the law as the next government’s first decision. What matters is strengthening the bloc of those who serve and forming a stable government. Gadi Eisenkot would do well to make it clear to the public who his partners will be the day after the elections.”
The accompanying source commentary interprets the closing sentence as an insinuation that Eisenkot intends to cooperate with Ra’am. The statement itself does not name Ra’am or establish such a plan.
Democrats chairman Maj. Gen. (res.) Yair Golan urged Eisenkot, Bennett and Liberman to stop attacking one another and work together to replace the government. He criticized the government over the massacre, draft evasion and abandonment, and argued that leadership disputes should be secondary to the country’s interests.
Golan said they would all recommend the same candidate for prime minister, noted that he had already stepped aside, and called on the others to do likewise. He urged a coordinated bloc campaign and higher voter turnout, describing the coming 40 days as the most important in the country’s history.
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