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Political activities have intensified regarding the formation of a new government in Israel. The equation of power seems to be changing after former army chief and opposition leader Gadi Aisenkot got the support of the Joint List, a coalition of Arab parties.
According to news agency PTI, during the consultation process of political parties with President Isaac Herzog on Thursday, Arab parties announced their support to Aizencott.
The support of 61 MPs is necessary to form a government in Israel's 120-member Parliament. Arab parties have 19 seats. After his support, Aizencott is estimated to have the support of 67 MPs, which is 6 more than the majority figure.
At the same time, current Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has suffered a major setback, a faction of his old ally ultra-Orthodox party United Torah Judaism (UTJ) has also refused to support him.
'Chosen between bad and very bad'
Ram Party leader Mansoor Abbas announced his support to Aizenkot on Thursday.
His party has eight seats. During this, Abbas also reiterated his support for 'Two State Solution' and US President Donald Trump's Gaza Plan. He demanded the disarmament of all military and armed organizations including Hamas.
Ram Party has earlier also extended external support to the government led by Naftali Bennett.
The Joint List, the other major Arab political group with 11 seats, has also decided to support Aizencott. The party described its decision as an election between 'bad and very bad options' to remove the Netanyahu government from power.
Joint List chairman Youssef Jabarin said his delegation's decision reflects the Arab voters' demand for change.
He accused Arab citizens of facing problems like racism, discrimination, crime and political-social exclusion during the tenure of the current government.
"The Arab community voted in large numbers with the hope of change," Jabarin said. However, they differ with Eisencott on many issues.
These include Aizencott's political stance and his not taking a strong stance on alleged inflammatory statements against Arab citizens during the election campaign.
He said, 'We are not choosing between good and better, but we are facing bad and even worse options.'
At the same time, senior Arab MP Ahmed Tibi said, "The Joint List can support the minority government from outside and will play the role of a 'blocking block' in the parliament. However, the party will not be involved in forming a government that is likely to fall soon."
Netanyahu's old aide also distanced himself
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's camp has 53 seats, but the chances of him getting the support of all 53 MPs are very less.
Degel HaTorah, the faction of United Torah Judaism (UTJ) that holds four of the seven seats, has decided not to support any candidate.
According to The Times of Israel report, ultra-Orthodox leaders have distanced themselves from Netanyahu. The reason for this is that his government could not pass a law exempting men of the Haredi community from compulsory military service.
Meanwhile, Netanyahu's Likud party continues to allege that Arab parties rigged the election with foreign support. However, he has not presented any concrete evidence in support of his allegations.
Netanyahu and his party Likud have cited some cases in support of alleged irregularities in the election.
These also include the arrest of three political workers on charges of bribing voters before the start of voting.
These workers are suspected to have alleged links with the Ram Party, although the party has denied any involvement.
Who is Gadi Eisencott?
Gadi Eisenkot was born in Morocco in the city of Tiberias, Israel.
If he becomes Prime Minister, he will be the first Mizrahi Prime Minister of Israel. Mizrahi Jews are from the Middle East and North Africa. Almost half of Israel's population comes from this community.
Eisencott began his military career in 1978 by joining the Golani Brigade of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) during his mandatory military service.
He became the commander of this brigade in 1997. After this, he took up many important responsibilities in the army and in 2015 was appointed Chief of General Staff of the IDF.
After retiring from the army, Eisencott entered politics and became a member of the Israeli Parliament. After the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, he also made a place in Netanyahu's war cabinet.
His son Gail was killed during fighting in Gaza in December 2023. After this he also lost his two nephews in the conflict.
Eisencott formed his centrist political party Yashar in September 2025. In Hebrew, Yashar means 'straight, true or honest'.
