Meanwhile, Democrats chairman Yair Golan and members of his party walk out of the plenum in protest, while Democrats MK Gilad Kariv shouts: “How much money did you receive from Qatar?”
“Ever since the balcony in Zion Square, you haven’t stopped inciting,” Kariv yells, referring to an October 1995 rally in which Netanyahu supporters chanted “Death to Rabin,” a month before his assassination by a Jewish extremist.
Gadi Eisenkot was chosen by the leaders of six parties, representing a majority of seats in the Knesset, as the most legitimate candidate to form a new government. President Isaac Herzog is expected to announce his decision on Sunday.
The Democrats Chairman Yair Golan met this morning (Tuesday, November 3) with Joint List Chairman Yousef Jabareen and Ta’al Chairman Ahmad Tibi, before the meeting of the “change bloc” leaders of the Zionist opposition took place Following its conclusion, Golan met with “Yashar” Chairman Gadi Eisenkot, “Beyachad” Chairman Naftali Bennett, and “Yisrael Beytenu” Chairman Avigdor Lieberman.
(…)
Yesterday, all the newly elected Members of Knesset from the Joint List met for the first time. Additionally, a meeting was held between representatives of the Joint List and representatives of the Islamic Ra’am party, led by Mansour Abbas. A statement released at the conclusion of the meeting read, “Both sides exchanged views on the political developments following the elections and discussed the need to deepen cooperation in order to confront the new challenges and work toward bringing down the fascist right from power.”
The leaders of the Jewish-led opposition alliance met on Tuesday in the city of Herzliya, north of Tel Aviv, in their first joint meeting since the October 27 election, which left neither bloc with a majority in the 120-seat Knesset.
The agreement comes a day before President Isaac Herzog begins consultations with parties on who should form the next government.
The Democrats party announced on Monday that it would recommend Yashar leader Gadi Eisenkot to President Isaac Herzog as its candidate to form the next government, ahead of the president’s consultations with party representatives beginning Wednesday.
The announcement came after the two other party leaders in the bloc seeking to replace Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Naftali Bennett (B‘Yachad) and Avigdor Liberman (Yisrael Beytenu), said they would recommend Eisenkot.
Entscheidend könnten nun also die arabischen Listen werden: Die sicherten sich bei der Parlamentswahl zusammen 19 Sitze – so viele wie noch nie. „67 Mandate für Veränderung“ war auch einer der Slogans der Demonstrierenden – denn ein Bündnis von Eisenkots Block mit den israelisch-arabischen Parteien käme auf 67 Abgeordnete.
Thousands of people have rallied in Tel Aviv to urge the Israeli opposition to make a deal with Arab parties to remove Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Protesters at Saturday’s rally told the AFP news agency this may be the “last chance for real change” and that Netanyahu, Israel’s longest-serving prime minister, is a “great manipulator”.
There are about 2.1 million Arab-Israelis, making up roughly 21% of the country’s population. Their interests tend to be represented by Ra’am and the Joint List, both of which have played a more prominent role in Israeli politics in recent years.
In the aftermath of the 2021 election, the Ra‘am party leader, Mansour Abbas, joined with opposition leaders from across the political spectrum to unseat Netanyahu. This made Ra’am the first independent Arab party to join an Israeli coalition.
Naftali Bennett’s government collapsed after one year, opening the door for Netanyahu to return.
Three years after the Hamas-led attacks on Israel that triggered the war in Gaza, Israeli voters will decide next Tuesday whether to grant Benjamin Netanyahu yet another term as prime minister — or usher in a new era of Israeli politics.
Polling suggests a tight race between Netanyahu, leader of the nationalist Likud party, and his chief rival, Gadi Eisenkot, who leads the centrist Yashar!, for control of the government.
Former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett triggered a public clash within the camp seeking to replace Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday after saying he would have no objection to the incumbent prime minister serving as a minister in a future Bennett-led government, provided he accepted a series of fundamental reforms. Within hours, three other opposition leaders rejected the prospect, insisting Netanyahu should have no place in the next cabinet.
Published Sep 25, 2026 · 32 days before the election
120 seats
Right-religious bloc 49
Center-opposition bloc 55
Non-aligned 4
Arab parties 12
Yashar (Eisenkot) 22
Likud 18
Together (Bennett-Lapid) 13
The Democrats 11
Otzma Yehudit 9
Yisrael Beytenu 9
Joint List (Hadash-Ta‘al-Balad) 7
Shas 6
United Torah Judaism 6
Religious Zionism-Zehut 6
Ra‘am 5
People of Israel (Winter) 4
Reservists-Economic (Hendel-Zelekha) 4
The meeting brought together Lapid, the leader of Yesh Atid; Gadi Eisenkot, the head of Yashar; Naftali Bennett, the leader of Beyachad; Avigdor Lieberman, the head of Yisrael Beiteinu; and Democrats leader Yair Golan. The meeting focused on coordinating the parties’ election efforts, attracting additional voters to the opposition bloc, and improving its chances of securing a parliamentary majority and forming the next government in place of Netanyahu’s, according to the broadcaster.
The Joint List would become the third largest faction in the Knesset if elections were held today, according to the results of a poll broadcast last night (Monday, May 25) on Channel 13 News. According to the poll, the Joint List would win 16 seats, while Likud drops to 23 seats and “Beyachad” falls to 21 seats. In this scenario, Netanyahu’s extremist right-wing bloc drops to 53 seats, while the Zionist opposition bloc falls to 51 seats. To form an alternative government, the opposition parties would need the Joint List to secure a majority of 67 Knesset members.
Smotrich’s comments drew immediate condemnation from the opposition, with Ra’am chairman Mansour Abbas asserting that “human life holds no value in his eyes”. MK Ayman Odeh, the chairman of Hadash-Ta’al parliamentary faction, also slammed Smotrich, declaring on X that “what the racists and Kahanists say is not important, what matters is what we will do.” “And we, the Arab citizens, together with the democratic Jews, will do everything, simply everything, to prevent Smotrich-Netanyahu-Ben Gvir from continuing to another term,” Odeh wrote.
(May 5, 2026)
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich sparked an uproar on Tuesday when he asserted that former prime minister Naftali Bennett’s decision to include the Islamist Ra’am party in his 2021-2022 government was far worse than the governmental failures tied to Hamas’s October 7, 2023, onslaught — the worst attack on civilians in Israeli history, which saw some 1,200 people murdered and 251 taken hostage, and which led to a multi-front war in which some 900 others have been killed.
Smotrich’s comments drew immediate condemnation from the opposition, with Ra’am chairman Mansour Abbas asserting that “human life holds no value in [his] eyes” and Bennett accusing the finance minister, as well as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, of “trying with all their might to make people forget the atrocities that occurred on their watch.”
When asked if a government could be formed “without the support of MKs Ahmad Tibi or Aida Touma-Sliman” from the Hadash-Ta’al faction, Bennett replied: “We have a large majority even without them.” This statement comes despite a series of recent polls indicating that the Zionist parties opposing Netanyahu are unlikely to secure a majority without the support of Hadash and the Arab parties. (…)
Following the unification, Gadi Eisenkot, leader of the new “Yashar” party, called this morning for a meeting of opposition leaders excluding Hadash and Islamist Ra’am, “in order to ensure victory through Zionist and statesmanlike votes without Arabs.” In his announcement, Eisenkot mentioned the leaders of the “Together” list, Bennett and Lapid, as well as Yisrael Beiteinu chairman MK Avigdor Lieberman and The Democrats leader Yair Golan.
(April 26, 2026)
Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid served as prime ministers in a rotation agreement as part of a coalition government they formed in 2021, ending 12 years of Netanyahu’s rule. Now they plan to merge their parties into single faction headed by Bennett, calling it a partnership between the center and the right.
Bennett said if elected, the new government on its first day would establish a state commission of inquiry into the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023 attack on southern Israel that started the war, an issue that has dogged Netanyahu.
There have been calls in Israel for a public inquiry into the failures around the Oct. 7 attack, the deadliest on Israel in its history.