Liberman Backs Lapid for Knesset Speaker Over Ohana

Avigdor Liberman declared on Monday that Yisrael Beytenu will support outgoing opposition leader Yair Lapid for Knesset speaker and will recommend Yashar party leader Gadi Eisenkot for prime minister. He also announced a push to unseat the current speaker, Amir Ohana of Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud. The Jerusalem Post reported that Liberman made the remarks at a press briefing.

"Also regarding the Knesset speaker, all the speculation and nonsense – we were not extortionists, and we do not intend to extort," Liberman said. "Yair Lapid said he wants to be Knesset speaker. We will support Yair Lapid's candidacy for Knesset speaker."

He laid out the next step as well. "Next Tuesday, we will act to collect signatures to replace the Knesset speaker," Liberman said. "Replacing the Knesset speaker is critical, also for the election of the state comptroller. This Knesset speaker functioned as a political commissar [and] broke all the rules."

The speaker's chair carries real weight. With Ohana out, the opposition bloc would gain more say over what reaches the Knesset floor, from votes and legislation to committee appointments, and that would hold even if Netanyahu stays on at the head of a caretaker government.

Asked whether he hoped to become prime minister himself, Liberman said he had no such expectations. He said he was working to put a government together as fast as possible so that Israel would not face another round of elections. He cautioned that a minority government would not survive a full year, and that it would end with Netanyahu back in power with "70 seats."

His endorsement of Eisenkot follows one from former prime minister Naftali Bennett. Bennett announced on Sunday that he would recommend Eisenkot to President Isaac Herzog as the candidate to form the next government. By law, the president must consult the Knesset factions before deciding who receives that task.

Eisenkot had previously argued that the leader of the largest party in the opposition bloc should be its candidate for prime minister. Liberman did not announce any agreement within the bloc on that arrangement.

The arithmetic remains tight. According to the final count released by the Central Elections Committee on October 29, Netanyahu's bloc won 53 seats and the opposition bloc won 48. Neither side reached the 61 seats needed for a majority without the Arab parties.

The speaker question had divided the opposition in recent days. Liberman had been pressing for Oded Forer, fourth on the Yisrael Beiteinu slate, to take the post. Ynet described a tense meeting between Liberman and Eisenkot in which Liberman rejected Eisenkot's push for a speaker from his own faction, such as Chilli Tropper or Matan Kahana.

On Monday morning, Liberman refused to commit to recommending Eisenkot to the president after their meeting. Earlier, on October 29, Channel 12 News reported that Liberman had cut off contact with Bennett and Eisenkot the day after the election, and that he did not then see a realistic path to replacing Ohana.