Eisenkot calls off next-day talks with Likud after Netanyahu's plenum speech

Gadi Eisenkot, chairman of the Yashar! party, cancelled a negotiating meeting between his party's team and representatives of Likud that had been scheduled for the following day, citing a speech Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had just delivered in the Knesset plenum. Ynet reported that the session had been arranged after Eisenkot approached every faction in the Knesset, and that Yashar! itself disclosed the cancellation, describing Netanyahu's address as a speech of division.

According to N12 political correspondent Dafna Liel, Eisenkot ordered the meeting called off in response to the speech. Liel also reported that Eisenkot met again that evening with Avigdor Lieberman. The cancellation was also reported by the Telegram channels of political commentator Amit Segal and News.co.il, both of which carried the party's statement.

What the Yashar! statement said

The party's statement, as quoted by N12, Ynet and the other outlets, referred to Netanyahu as the "outgoing prime minister" and said he had lashed out at the citizens of Israel during the evening. It called the speech another sad reminder for anyone still needing proof that "Netanyahu does not want unity."

The statement went on to argue that, when Netanyahu has to choose between what it called the gravity of the moment and the resilience of Israeli society on one hand, and his own political survival on the other, he will always choose himself, "at any price." These are the party's characterisations of the prime minister and of his speech, and they are attributed to Yashar! alone.

The parties and people involved

Gadi Eisenkot is a former chief of staff of the Israel Defense Forces who entered politics and now leads Yashar!, a party whose Hebrew name translates roughly as "Straight" or "Upright." Likud is the right-wing party led by Netanyahu. Avigdor Lieberman leads the Yisrael Beytenu party; the reports say only that he and Eisenkot met again and do not describe what they discussed.

The Knesset is Israel's single-chamber parliament, and the plenum is its full sitting, where party leaders deliver speeches to all members. The reports do not summarise what Netanyahu said in his address beyond Yashar!'s description of it.

Why the meeting mattered

Ynet's account places the planned session within a broader effort by Eisenkot to open contacts with all the parties represented in the Knesset. A meeting between negotiating teams from Yashar! and Likud would have been a direct channel between Eisenkot's party and the prime minister's. The party's own statement frames the issue in terms of national unity, suggesting the talks touched on cooperation across political camps, though none of the reports spells out what the agenda was or what either side was seeking.

The description of Netanyahu as "outgoing" comes from Yashar!'s statement. The reports do not explain the political circumstances behind that wording, and this article does not add to it.

How the news emerged

The cancellation surfaced within minutes across several outlets on the same evening. Ynet ran a short alert and then a longer item, crediting Yashar! with revealing the cancellation. Amit Segal's channel framed it as a disclosure by Eisenkot himself. News.co.il described it as an announcement by Eisenkot. N12's Liel reported both the cancellation and the separate Eisenkot and Lieberman meeting. The accounts agree on the core facts: a negotiating meeting with Likud was planned for the next day, and Eisenkot called it off because of Netanyahu's speech.

What the reports do not say

None of the reports includes a response from Netanyahu or from Likud to the cancellation or to the accusations in the Yashar! statement. They do not say whether the meeting will be rescheduled, what Netanyahu actually said in the plenum, or what was discussed between Eisenkot and Lieberman. Nor do they detail how other factions responded to Eisenkot's approach.