Israeli Politics

"Netanyahu thrilled" by opposition meeting

Amir Ettinger says the public didn't like the infighting between opposition leaders, and while they didn't agree on a prime ministerial candidate, the meeting itself was a good event for the change bloc

Gila Isaacson

SEP 27, 2026 10:43

2 min read

Leaders of the opposition change bloc, Gadi Eisenkot, Naftali Bennett, Avigdor Liberman and Yair Golan, met at the Tel Aviv home of opposition leader Yair Lapid and published their first joint photograph. Political analyst Amir Ettinger of Yedioth Ahronoth addressed the significance of the meeting this morning (Sunday) on 103 FM radio.

Ettinger said the meeting was designed to halt the public messaging battles and confrontations between the party leaders. "Whoever didn't give an interview against the other would brief journalists behind the scenes. This meeting was meant to put an end to that. In the end, their public didn't like it. They didn't like seeing it. Even though they didn't agree on a candidate for prime minister, they want people to know they're together," he said.

He added that in his view, the meeting itself achieved its goal. "It was a good event for the change bloc," he said.

Ettinger also addressed the impact of the infighting on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. "It's clear that Netanyahu is thrilled that they're fighting among themselves instead of investing their resources in the struggle against Netanyahu," he said.

According to Ettinger, although the party leaders are "not deciding who the candidate for prime minister is, but there is an agreement not to deal with it until the election. That's nonsense because every interview opens with who the candidate for prime minister is."