Eisenkot Floats 58-Seat Minority Cabinet as Bennett and Liberman Hold Out for 61

Gadi Eisenkot has told the opposition bloc he wants to lead it into the next government and that he would accept office on 58 or 59 seats. His plan calls for a confidence vote that passes without a permanent bloc of 61 lawmakers behind it, followed by efforts to widen support once in office. The proposal has put him at odds with Naftali Bennett and Avigdor Liberman, who say they will not govern without a Zionist majority on day one.

The disagreement runs through a bloc that polls show leading the outgoing coalition, yet its parties, under their current agreements, still fall short of the 61 seats needed to form a government. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's camp is also short of a majority in many surveys, though some polls put the right-wing bloc over the line. The electoral threshold could move seats between lists, and a small number of votes would decide whether a government can be formed or whether Israel returns to the polls.

The arithmetic has a wrinkle. Taking office requires a majority in the confidence vote, not 61 affirmative votes, so abstentions can carry a government in. Removing one requires 61 lawmakers to back an alternative. Eisenkot has not ruled out outside backing from Ra'am, but no formula for that support exists.

Liberman rejects the minority route outright, including as a stopgap, and says he would rather see another election than a government that fails his conditions. He has floated bringing Likud lawmakers into a cabinet without Netanyahu, saying some would be willing, but he has named none and no talks with Likud members are under way. Bennett and Yair Lapid, who head the Beyachad list, also refuse to rely on Arab party votes or abstentions. Yair Golan of the Democrats has not closed the door on Ra'am. A meeting this week between Eisenkot and Liberman produced a shared call to raise turnout and left their disagreement intact. The two men also disagree on who leads: Eisenkot wants the largest party, Bennett points to his experience as prime minister.

The bloc is separately moving on the Knesset speaker's chair. Replacing Amir Ohana before any government is formed would hand Netanyahu's opponents control of the parliamentary agenda even if he remains caretaker prime minister. The speaker is chosen by open vote early in a new Knesset's term, and the bloc could call on Arab party lawmakers for the votes. Names in play include Chili Tropper, Matan Kahana and Elazar Stern from Eisenkot's list, Meirav Ben-Ari and Eitan Ginzburg from the Bennett-Lapid list, Efrat Rayten of the Democrats, and Oded Forer of Yisrael Beytenu. No candidate has been agreed. Liberman estimated this week that as many as one-third of outgoing coalition lawmakers might vote against Ohana, though they would have to do it in public.

Party teams have started coordinating on a state commission of inquiry into October 7, changes to conscription law, limits on a prime minister's tenure, and repeal of parts of the outgoing government's judicial overhaul. Liberman also wants a bar on anyone facing criminal charges serving as prime minister. No binding deal exists on details or sequence, not every member backs every judicial change, and laws aimed at Netanyahu could face constitutional challenge.