Netanyahu confidant Natan Eshel approached Ra'am's Abbas over Eisenkot

Natan Eshel, a long-standing confidant of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, held contacts with Mansour Abbas, chairman of the Arab party Ra'am, in an effort to keep the party from helping a government led by Gadi Eisenkot, according to a report on Ynet. The approach took place while Netanyahu was campaigning hard against any government that would depend on Arab parties, the Israeli news site said. Ynet reported that Eshel's question to the Ra'am side was, in effect, whether they would help Eisenkot.

Netanyahu's Likud party confirmed the report but distanced the prime minister from it. In a statement relayed by N12's Mohammad Magadli, Likud said Netanyahu "was surprised to hear about these exchanges" and that they were "not done with his knowledge". The news outlet News.co.il carried the same Likud confirmation and the same account of Eshel working behind the scenes with Abbas. The Jerusalem Post, citing the report, said Eshel had approached Abbas more than once about a possible coalition headed by Eisenkot.

What Eshel has said

According to Ynet, Eshel at first denied the contacts. He later gave a different account, saying he had only asked some Arabs whether they had "a drop of self-respect". That is the only response from Eshel himself in the reports, and it was carried by Ynet alone. None of the other outlets quoted him.

The reports therefore present a sequence rather than a single position: an initial denial from Eshel, a later explanation that framed the contacts as a pointed question rather than a negotiation, and a Likud statement that accepted the substance of the report while saying it was done without Netanyahu's knowledge.

Who the people involved are

Natan Eshel is described in all the reports as one of the people closest to Netanyahu. He has worked alongside the prime minister for many years and is regarded in Israeli politics as a member of his inner circle, which is why a contact between him and an Arab party leader drew attention.

Mansour Abbas chairs Ra'am, the Hebrew acronym for the United Arab List, a party that draws its support mainly from Arab citizens of Israel and has roots in the Islamic Movement. Abbas is known for arguing that Arab parties should be willing to take part in, or support, Israeli governments in exchange for policy gains for Arab communities. That stance has made Ra'am a possible kingmaker in close parliamentary arithmetic, and a target of criticism from the right.

Gadi Eisenkot is a former chief of staff of the Israel Defense Forces who has entered politics as a challenger to Netanyahu. The reports refer to the prospect of a government he would head, which is the scenario Eshel was reportedly trying to head off.

Why the contact matters

The significance of the story lies in the gap between the campaign message and the reported back-channel. Ynet and News.co.il both placed the contacts against the backdrop of Netanyahu's campaign attacking the idea of a government leaning on Arab parties. That message is aimed largely at Eisenkot and the wider opposition, suggesting they could only form a coalition with Arab backing.

Eshel's reported goal, as described by Ynet and News.co.il, was consistent with that campaign: to keep Ra'am from lending its support to an Eisenkot-led government. But the method, a direct approach to the leader of an Arab party by someone close to Netanyahu, is the kind of engagement the campaign itself portrays as illegitimate when opponents do it. News.co.il framed the episode as the next political storm.

Likud's response addressed that tension by confirming the exchanges took place while saying Netanyahu had not authorised them and was surprised to learn of them.

Where the accounts differ

The outlets agree on the core facts: Eshel contacted Abbas, the subject was Eisenkot, and Likud confirmed the report while saying Netanyahu did not know. They differ in detail and emphasis. The Jerusalem Post describes repeated inquiries; Ynet and News.co.il do not specify how many contacts there were. Ynet alone reports Eshel's initial denial and his later remark about self-respect. The reports also do not characterise the exchanges in the same way: News.co.il describes an attempt to stop Ra'am from helping Eisenkot, while the Jerusalem Post's headline frames them as inquiries about a coalition.

What the reports do not say

None of the reports includes a response from Mansour Abbas or Ra'am, so the party's account of what was said, and how it replied, is not known. The reports do not say when the contacts took place, how they were conducted, or how the information first came to light. Likud's statement that Netanyahu was unaware is the party's own claim, and no report offers evidence either supporting or contradicting it. There is also no reported reaction from Eisenkot.