Eisenkot stands by mandatory service after Liberman opens door to ultra-Orthodox parties

Yashar chief Gadi Eisenkot on Friday stood by his four demands for any party interested in joining a coalition he was working to build, including one mandating national service for all Israelis, after Yisrael Beytenu chief Avigdor Liberman opened the door to a government with the ultra-Orthodox parties, who are bitterly opposed to the idea of drafting Haredi youth.

In a lengthy X post, Eisenkot began by stressing that “Israel is in a state of genuine, tangible and dangerous emergency.”

“The current government poses a fundamental threat to the very existence of Israeli democracy — nothing less. This is occurring while war fronts remain active, yet are themselves subject to political and personal whims. Israel is already in the midst of a dangerous diplomatic tsunami,” he wrote.

“Against this backdrop, over the past few days, I have been advancing a plan with my partners to form a national emergency government,” Eisenkot said, adding that he was working to swear in a new government as soon as possible, whose foundation would be the four Jewish-led opposition parties — Yashar, with 21 seats; B’Yachad, with 12; The Democrats, with eight; and Yisrael Beytenu, with seven.

The four parties held only 48 seats in the 120-member Knesset, meaning they could not form a majority government on their own. Netanyahu’s traditional right-wing and religious bloc won 53 seats, while the Arab-led Ra’am and Joint List won a combined 19, leaving the opposition searching for additional partners or outside support.

“Any other party or MK who agrees to my four core principles will be invited to join — whether immediately or at a later stage,” Eisenkot said. He added that he intended to approach every Knesset faction and invite members willing to sign on to the principles to join a government under his leadership.

He listed the four principles as:

1. Recognition of the State of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state.

2. Acceptance of the values ​​of the Declaration of Independence.

3. Mandatory service for all — whether military, national, or civilian service — to strengthen the IDF and expand its ranks.

4. Recognition of Hamas as a terrorist organization and a commitment to dismantling its military and governing power.

Eisenkot notably appeared to have slightly altered the fourth principle regarding Hamas, using the word “dismantling,” rather than “destruction” of its military and governing power. This potentially left the door open to diplomatic solutions for Gaza rather than military ones, which the Arab-led Ra’am party might have an easier time accepting. B’Yachad and Yisrael Beytenu, however, had rejected forming a coalition with Ra’am.

The renewed emphasis on mandatory service came after Liberman said Friday morning that he was prepared to reverse years of opposition to sitting with ultra-Orthodox parties and accept what he called “painful compromises” on Haredi enlistment to form a government without Netanyahu and avoid another election. Liberman nevertheless said he would not support a government dependent on Ra’am or the Joint List.

Eisenkot said it was the duty of Israel’s elected officials to prevent another round of elections while also preventing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from remaining in power.

The costs of Netanyahu clinging to the premiership “have become even more starkly apparent in recent days,” said the Yashar chief, who had blasted the prime minister’s calls against ratifying the results of the election as well as Netanyahu’s handling of relations with the US.

Eisenkot argued that allowing a caretaker prime minister commanding only a minority in the Knesset to continue directing the security establishment and law enforcement agencies was “dangerous” and “must not continue even for one more day.”

Eisenkot pointed to the recommendations submitted by 67 MKs for him to form the next coalition, adding that the ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism party’s seven MKs had not recommended Netanyahu either, leaving the premier with just 46 MKs who supported his continued rule. He noted that 74 lawmakers had not expressed confidence in Netanyahu continuing as prime minister.

President Isaac Herzog said Thursday that factions representing 67 lawmakers had recommended Eisenkot, compared with 46 for Netanyahu. Herzog stressed, however, that recommendations alone did not determine who would receive the mandate: Under Israeli law, the president must choose the lawmaker he believes has the best chance of forming a government. Herzog said he intended to assign the mandate on Sunday after further talks with party leaders.

Eisenkot said his team had been working tirelessly behind the scenes to form a new government. He said his team had spent “dozens of hours” negotiating and had held numerous meetings, some public and others not, including meetings he said took place “in the last few hours.”

“We have made significant progress and achieved a breakthrough — working quietly and modestly, with much of our activity remaining out of the public eye,” Eisenkot said. “When there is something to report, I will update you myself — looking you, the citizens of Israel, straight in the eyes.”

“Citizens of Israel… both those who voted for me and those who did not, Israel is in a state of emergency. We must steady the ship and bring Israel back to safe shores,” Eisenkot wrote.

Eisenkot said he intended to exercise both the mandate he believed voters had given him and the mandate he expected to receive from Herzog “with a sense of sacred responsibility,” calling the coming days “a test of leadership and love of the homeland.”

“Anyone who attempts to undermine or sabotage the formation of this government for personal rather than substantive reasons will go down in history as someone who failed to rise to the gravity of the hour and failed to act to save Israel during a time of emergency. Such an act will not be forgiven,” he added.

Eisenkot closed the statement by promising to deliver a “stable, unifying and responsible leadership” that has “won clear support from the public and from Knesset members.”

Despite Eisenkot’s 67 recommendations, his path to a coalition remained complicated. The Joint List backed him for prime minister and told Herzog it was prepared to support a government from outside, but several of Eisenkot’s Jewish opposition partners have ruled out depending on the Arab parties to govern.