Eisenkot sets four conditions for coalition partners after Israel's election

Gadi Eisenkot, chairman of the Yashar! party, published a statement on Saturday evening setting out four principles that any future partner in his government would have to accept, and pledging to act immediately on what he called a clear parliamentary majority against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. According to N12, Eisenkot called for the broadest possible Zionist and statesmanlike government and said he would work to realize the majority produced by the vote.

The four conditions, as N12 listed them, are: recognition of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state; commitment to the Declaration of Independence; an obligation on all citizens to perform military, national or civilian service; and recognition of Hamas as a terrorist organization, together with the need to destroy its military and governing power in the Gaza Strip. The Jerusalem Post reported that Eisenkot said any member of the Knesset who accepts these principles could join his government.

What Eisenkot said about the result

The full text of the statement, which was circulated on the Telegram channel of commentator Amit Segal, opens by declaring that the vote count is over and the election has ended. In it, Eisenkot argues that however the numbers are read, a majority of Israeli citizens, by a margin of more than half a million votes, voted against what he called the government of the seventh of October and of draft evasion, and in favor of change. He describes this as a majority both among all citizens and among the Zionist public that serves.

He also acknowledges, without naming anyone, that some are working to cast doubt on the result. Ynet's news alert carried his central pledge: "I will act to realize the clear parliamentary majority immediately."

The plan for the new Knesset

Ynet reported that Eisenkot laid out the steps he intends to take after the new Knesset is sworn in, which it said will happen in less than two weeks. According to Ynet, those steps include establishing a state commission of inquiry and repealing the laws of the judicial overhaul, which it described as only part of his program. Ynet also quoted him as saying that the turnout figures demand "a supreme effort" to avoid another election.

Background for readers outside Israel

The Knesset is Israel's parliament. Governments in Israel are almost always coalitions, because no single party usually wins a majority of seats on its own. After an election, parties negotiate to assemble a bloc large enough to form a government, and statements of principles like this one are a common way for a party leader to signal which partners are acceptable.

Israel held its general election on October 28, 2026, according to a photo caption in The Jerusalem Post showing Eisenkot with members of his party at its election headquarters in Tel Aviv as exit polls were released.

A state commission of inquiry is the most senior form of official investigation in Israeli law, with its members appointed by the judiciary rather than by the government. Calls for one to examine the events surrounding the Hamas attack on the seventh of October have been a recurring point of dispute in Israeli politics. The judicial overhaul refers to the package of legislation pursued by Netanyahu's government to change the powers of the courts and the way judges are selected.

The service condition touches one of the most contested issues in Israeli public life: exemptions from military service for ultra-Orthodox (Haredi) men. Eisenkot's reference to draft evasion in his statement points to that debate. The requirement to recognize Israel as a Jewish and democratic state and to commit to the Declaration of Independence, Israel's founding document, is also a test some parties may find difficult to meet.

Wording differs between versions

N12 revised its own report shortly after publishing it. The first version described the parliamentary majority as one that, in Eisenkot's claim, had been created in the election. The original wording was later edited to drop that qualifier and refer simply to the majority created in the vote.

What the reports do not say

None of the reports gives seat totals for the parties or for the bloc Eisenkot says opposes Netanyahu, so the size of the majority he is claiming in the Knesset is not stated. The reports do not identify which parties he expects to accept his four principles, or which he believes would be excluded by them. They do not include any response from Netanyahu, his Likud party or other party leaders. Ynet says the commission of inquiry and repeal of the overhaul laws are only part of the plan, but the remaining steps are not set out in the material available. The statement also does not explain how Eisenkot intends to secure the task of forming a government.