Liberman accuses Eisenkot of seeking to form unity government with Likud: ‘He’s Gantz 2’

MK Avigdor Liberman, head of the right-wing Zionist opposition party Yisrael Beytenu, on Friday accused his bloc’s frontrunner Gadi Eisenkot of planning to form a government with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud after the October 27 election.

In a lengthy statement, Liberman called the head of the centrist Yashar party “Benny Gantz two.” Gantz, who was Eisenkot’s predecessor as IDF chief and led Blue and White with Eisenkot as second-in-command, was once Netanyahu’s top challenger but has lost virtually all support after twice joining Likud in unity governments in 2021 and 2023.

Liberman said Eisenkot is attempting to drain votes within the opposition bloc by leading a campaign stressing the need for his Yashar party to be the largest party by far in the Knesset.

This, he argued, “is not intended to shift a single vote from the draft-dodgers’ bloc to the serving bloc, but rather to siphon votes from within the bloc itself. This runs completely counter to the agreements reached by the bloc’s leaders at their last meeting on September 26, undermines unity within the bloc and raises one simple question: What is behind this move?”

According to Liberman, “The picture is becoming increasingly clear: Gadi Eisenkot is planning for the day after the elections, and what interests him is not becoming the largest party in the serving bloc, but rather overtaking Likud and entering negotiations to form a government with Netanyahu from a position of strength.”

Liberman also accused Eisenkot of being too soft in his demands for Haredi men to serve in the military, and suggested the Yashar chief was not ruling out a minority government based on Arab support to maintain leverage in potential talks with the Likud.

Eisenkot, who has publicly ruled out forming a government with Netanyahu, later urged voters to “ignore the spin,” without naming Liberman.

Polls indicate the Zionist anti-Netanyahu bloc cannot form a government on its own without defectors from Netanyahu’s bloc or support of Ra’am and Joint List, the two Arab parties.

However, opposition chiefs — other than the left-leaning Democrats’ Yair Golan — have rejected forming a government with Arab parties. Liberman on Thursday rejected forming “even a transitional” minority government after the election, or any government that includes Arab or Haredi parties or Netanyahu himself.

Eisekot said in his apparent response to Liberman that he was seeking “more than 61 Zionist seats” to secure a majority in the 120-seat Knesset and replace the government that was in power during the Hamas-led onslaught of October 7, 2023.

“We are 11 days away from the most consequential election since the founding of the state,” Eisenkot said.

“The people of Israel will not forgive politicians who fail to rise to the moment because of a seat or personal interests, and who prevent the replacement of the October 7 government,” which “must not remain in office for even another day,” he said.

He called on Israelis who want change to “ignore the spin” and “not be rattled by the background noise,” and said he seeks “a clear majority of more than 61 Zionist seats for change.”

Eisenkot further called on everyone in the “bloc for change and hope” to focus on kicking out the government, and said he was working “around the clock” to bring in more voters “fed up with draft dodging, division and the lies of the Netanyahu government.”

Gantz also defended Eisenkot on X, saying that in 30 years in politics, Liberman “hasn’t done 10 percent of what Gadi Eisenkot and I have done for the State of Israel.”