Herzog is pushing to form a unity government led by Netanyahu-Eisenkot

Ramallah - Ofoq News - Israeli President Isaac Herzog seeks to form a unity government after the upcoming Knesset elections, instead of heading to new elections, according to what the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth revealed, citing sources from the “Yashar!” list.

Noting that he stressed during his meetings with them the necessity of achieving political unity. These moves come in an effort to prepare the ground for understandings between Likud, headed by Benjamin Netanyahu, and the “Yashar!” party. Led by Gadi Eisenkot.

Herzog's office said that the president referred to the formation of a stable government and did not address the issue of any government, and that the issue of unity was not raised at all, not in the talks with members of the Knesset.

The President's Office responded, saying: "We strongly deny the veracity of this news. The President has not discussed the formation of a national unity government with any candidate or member of the Knesset. The President is not addressing at this stage any formation of the government, and all of this will be discussed in consultations that will be held in the President's Office after the election results are announced."

Eisenkot responded by saying that Netanyahu “cannot hold the position of prime minister, minister or deputy minister.”

Herzog's statements sparked a state of alert within the Change Bloc, fearing that he would use his powers to assign the prime minister to impose cooperation between the parties and form a national unity government.

The head of the Democratic Party, Yair Golan, rejected the idea, stressing on the “X” platform that there will be no unity government with Netanyahu, and considering that supporting it constitutes a stab in the back of the democratic people.”

For his part, the head of the Yesh Atid party, Yair Lapid, warned against forming a unity government, which he described as “fake,” calling on the Change Camp parties to announce their rejection in advance, and accusing Netanyahu of deceiving his partners and causing more disasters for the Israelis. He is bringing more disasters to the citizens of Israel with the votes of those who voted to remove him from power. We will not cooperate with this, and I call on the other parties in the camp to announce in advance their refusal to participate in such a government.”

With the exception of Bennett's party and the Democrats, the rest of the components of the Change Bloc or Netanyahu's bloc did not comment on the matter.

However, according to the newspaper, Herzog also raised the possibility of forming a unity government with Knesset members whom he met on numerous occasions.

According to the information, Herzog intends to put pressure on Knesset members from Eisenkot’s party (the largest party in the Change Bloc), and explain to them the necessity of this step in the event that a decision is not reached.

However, according to the report, the Change Bloc has repeatedly made clear that it will not support a government in which Netanyahu is a partner, especially in light of the October 7 attack. Most parties prefer re-elections to the possibility of forming a unity government, but when Herzog talks about “doing everything” and emphasizes this more than once, the Change Bloc fears that he will put pressure on parliamentarians.

In both cases, the Change Alliance is preparing to form a government, even if it is a minority government. Eisenkot has stated on numerous occasions that if he had a choice between allowing Netanyahu to serve as interim prime minister or allowing him to form a government with a Zionist majority, he would choose the second option.

There have previously been reports that Eisenkot and members of the Change Bloc intend to take the first step after the elections by replacing the Knesset speaker.

According to the position of the Supreme Court after the 2021 election campaign, the signature of a majority of 61 members of the Knesset is required to demand the replacement of the president. This is not a written law, but rather a position that was established as a precedent after the then Speaker of the Knesset, Yuli Edelstein, from the Likud Party, refused to allow a plenary session to be held to replace him, when the change government was formed.