Opposition Bloc Leaders Meet for First Time Since Election

The leaders of the opposition Change Bloc, Gadi Eisenkot, Naftali Bennett, Avigdor Liberman, Yair Golan and Yair Lapid, will meet tomorrow (Tuesday) at 11:30 a.m. at the Dan Accadia Hotel in Herzliya to coordinate the bloc's next moves.

The gathering is the first time all five have sat together since election results were published. Until now, the bloc's leaders have met one-on-one, but not as a group.

The meeting comes against the backdrop of a political deadlock: the Change Bloc cannot reach 61 seats without support from either the haredi or Arab parties. Partial results put Netanyahu at 53 mandates and Eisenkot at 48.

The session follows a week of internal tensions. Yisrael Beiteinu chairman Avigdor Liberman delivered sharp criticism of Yashar! chairman Gadi Eisenkot at a press briefing Monday, saying "the opposition failed catastrophically. The responsibility lies with Gadi Eisenkot, who ran an egotistical campaign." According to Liberman, "we lost between seven and eight mandates in the final ten days."

Liberman revealed that since election night, he has met with figures from both political camps. "Since the election I've met with everyone who matters — both in the opposition and in the coalition," he said. He also addressed the state of Netanyahu's bloc: "Deri isn't answering Bibi's calls, and United Torah Judaism is saying openly that they're no longer committed to the bloc."

According to a Channel 13 report, a delegation of Likud mayors and Jerusalem mayor Moshe Lion met with Liberman Sunday at a private home in Mevasseret Zion, attempting to pressure him to join a government under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The meeting ended without success, with Liberman telling the delegation: "I recognize the need to form a government, but I don't trust Netanyahu. He needs to go."

Meanwhile, former prime minister and defense minister Ehud Barak surprised listeners Monday in an interview on Radio 103FM, stating that the Change Bloc is prepared to compromise on the draft issue in order to form a government under Eisenkot. "The most important promise of the Change Bloc is to remove Netanyahu from power," Barak declared.

Barak proposed an alternative framework that could open the door to negotiations with the haredi parties: instead of demanding universal conscription, he suggested a shortened national-civic service. "Anyone who chooses not to enlist will serve nine months in national service, or however long it will be, and then go on with their lives," he said.

Another issue likely to come up at Tuesday's meeting is the Knesset speakership. Liberman announced today that he will support Lapid for the position, contrary to Eisenkot's position, Eisenkot wants to install a speaker from his own party. In effect, Liberman is leading a move with Bennett and Lapid that runs counter to the Yashar! chairman's demand.

The political system is also examining an unusual alternative to break the deadlock: a one-time shift to a direct election system for prime minister. According to an N12 report, the initiative is based on an idea Benjamin Netanyahu promoted following the stalemate after the March 2021 elections. Under the framework being considered, the public would vote directly for prime minister, and the winning candidate would receive automatic authority to form a government, even as a minority government.

President Yitzchak Herzog will open consultations with party representatives next Wednesday, ahead of his decision on whom to task with forming a government. The president will receive the official election results that day from Central Elections Committee chairman Judge Noam Solberg, and immediately afterward will summon the parties for talks.

In remarks Sunday at the state memorial ceremony for Chaim Weizmann zt"l, Herzog called on the parties to arrive at consultations "with an open mind. As they all know, during an election campaign, naturally and predictably, the candidates climb high trees. But the election is over," the president said. "The election results are an established fact, they are reality. And this is the time to say to all the leaders: stop climbing the trees and face this reality."