Lapid and Eisenkot meet after Knesset election to coordinate next steps

Yair Lapid, the former prime minister, and Gadi Eisenkot, chairman of the Yashar party, met in the evening to discuss the outcome of Israel's parliamentary elections, according to several Israeli outlets. The Times of Israel reported that Lapid himself announced the meeting, and that it was the first time the two had acknowledged meeting in public since Tuesday's vote for the Knesset.

A short statement on the talks, carried in similar form by several outlets, said the pair reviewed the election results and coordinated their next steps. In the account given by Lapid, as quoted by The Times of Israel, the two acted out of a joint commitment to "realize the will of the voter." Political commentator Amit Segal posted the same statement in Hebrew, framing the meeting as Eisenkot sitting down with Lapid, while Ynet's news alert summarised it as the two having coordinated moves.

Who the two politicians are

Lapid served as Israel's prime minister and, before this election, led the parliamentary opposition. A photograph used by The Times of Israel to illustrate the story, dated September 7, 2025, shows him in that role meeting Eisenkot, who at the time was a former member of the Knesset. In its report, The Times of Israel described Lapid as the number two on a list called B'Yachad, a Hebrew word meaning "together." The reports do not explain the composition of that list or who heads it.

Eisenkot is a former chief of staff of the Israel Defense Forces who entered politics after leaving the military. He now chairs a party named Yashar, Hebrew for "straight" or "honest," written by N12 with an exclamation mark as "Yashar!"

What happens after an Israeli election

The Knesset is Israel's single-chamber parliament. Israeli elections are fought on national party lists, and no party has historically won a majority on its own, so governments are formed by coalitions. In the days after a vote, party leaders typically meet to test possible alliances before the president consults the factions and asks one member to try to assemble a government. Meetings like this one are part of that early sounding-out phase, and joint statements are often worded in general terms.

The phrase about realizing the will of the voter is common in Israeli post-election politics, where each camp argues that the results give it a mandate. The statement released after this meeting did not say what that will is or what the coordinated moves involve.

Lapid's next meeting

N12 political correspondent Dafna Liel reported that Lapid is due to meet Avigdor Liberman, chairman of the Yisrael Beytenu party, the following day. Liberman, a veteran right-wing politician whose party draws much of its support from Russian-speaking Israelis, has been part of past efforts to form governments without the Likud party.

Separately, The Times of Israel's live coverage on the same day carried a claim by Liberman that he had received several approaches about becoming Speaker of the Knesset, the official who presides over the parliament, but that he was not interested in the post.

What the reports do not say

None of the reports give the election results or say how many seats either politician's list won. They do not describe any agreement reached between Lapid and Eisenkot, whether they discussed a joint bid to form a government, or whether they intend to recommend a particular candidate for prime minister.

The reports also do not say where the meeting took place, how long it lasted, or who else attended. The account rests on a single short statement, which The Times of Israel attributes to Lapid; the Hebrew outlets quote the same wording without naming its author. No comment from Eisenkot beyond that shared statement appears in the material, and the content of Lapid's planned talks with Liberman has not been reported.