Likud picks Ofir Katz and Michael Rabilo for talks with Eisenkot's party

Likud, the party led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, has chosen two people to represent it at a negotiating meeting with the party of Gadi Eisenkot, according to Israeli political reporters. Journalist Amit Segal reported on his Telegram channel that Likud's delegation would consist of Ofir Katz, who chairs the Likud faction in the Knesset, and attorney Michael Rabilo.

N12, a major Israeli television news service, carried the same two names in a report attributed to its political correspondent Dafna Liel, and added a further detail: Rabilo had, in recent days, taken his name out of consideration for the post of State Comptroller. N12 identified the other side of the talks as Yashar, Eisenkot's party, while Segal described them as Eisenkot's people. Neither report said when or where the meeting would take place.

Who is negotiating for Likud

Ofir Katz holds the position of faction chairman, the lawmaker responsible for managing a party's group of members in the Knesset, Israel's parliament. The role involves coordinating how members vote and handling day-to-day dealings with other parties, which makes the faction chair a natural choice for talks between parties.

Michael Rabilo is a lawyer. The reports describe him only by his professional title and by his recent withdrawal from the race for State Comptroller. They do not say what links him to Likud or what role he would play beyond being one of its two representatives in the room.

The State Comptroller's office

The State Comptroller is Israel's chief public auditor. The office examines how government ministries, state bodies and public institutions spend money and carry out their duties, and it publishes reports that can be sharply critical of officials. The comptroller is chosen by the Knesset in a secret ballot rather than appointed by the government, and also serves as the public ombudsman who handles complaints from citizens.

N12's report places Rabilo among those who had been in the running for that office before stepping aside. The report did not give a reason for his withdrawal, and it did not draw a connection between that decision and his new assignment.

Eisenkot and Yashar

Gadi Eisenkot is a former Chief of the General Staff of the Israel Defense Forces, the most senior officer in the military, who moved into politics after leaving the army. He later established his own party, which goes by the Hebrew name Yashar, a word meaning straight or upright.

Eisenkot has positioned himself outside the Netanyahu-led camp, which is part of why a negotiating meeting between Likud and his party draws attention. The two reports, however, describe only the composition of Likud's delegation. They do not describe the subject of the talks or what either side hopes to achieve.

How the news emerged

Both reports appeared within minutes of each other on Telegram, the messaging platform that many Israeli journalists and news outlets use to publish short updates before fuller articles. Segal is a prominent political commentator in Israel, and N12 is one of the country's most widely followed news services. Both outlets reported the same two names for the Likud team, which gives that detail two separate sources. The information about Rabilo's withdrawal from the comptroller race comes from N12 alone.

Neither report quoted Likud, Yashar, Katz or Rabilo directly, and neither cited an official party statement.

What the reports do not say

• The purpose of the negotiations: neither outlet said what the two parties are discussing or whether the talks concern a political partnership, legislation or something else.
• Who will represent Yashar: no names were given for Eisenkot's side of the table.
• Timing and venue: no date, time or location for the meeting was reported.
• Why Rabilo withdrew his candidacy for State Comptroller, and whether that decision had anything to do with his role in the talks.
• Any response from Eisenkot or his party to the reports.