From the Liveblog of
Monday, January 26, 2026
Liberman rebuffs calls for opposition parties to stage joint run in next elections
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleSam Sokol is a former political correspondent at The Times of Israel. He was previously a reporter for the Jerusalem Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Haaretz. He is the author of "Putin’s Hybrid War and the Jews"
Yisrael Beytenu chairman Avigdor Liberman appears to dismiss Yashar! party chairman Gadi Eisenkot’s efforts to forge a united opposition list ahead of the next election, declaring that what is important is that the opposition “present a shared vision and shared values, not just a technical unification.”
Addressing reporters ahead of his party’s weekly faction meeting in the Knesset, Liberman insists that “we can’t just complain that the draft law is a bad law” but rather must “present one draft law common to all” and “present a united front from now on.”
Liberman also calls for a similar approach for a range of issues, from the establishment of a national constitution to public transportation on Shabbat.
Asked about Eisenkot’s proposed merger with Opposition Leader Yair Lapid’s Yesh Atid and former prime minister Naftali Bennett’s Bennett 2026 party, Liberman replies that he will respect whatever decision that they make, adding that “we must present an alternative, but not a technical and artificial one, but a substantive one.”
“We are currently working on this, to reach an agreement with all the parties in the opposition, all the parties of the bloc that serve to reach a single proposal in these areas, to stand behind a single proposal,” Liberman states.
The Times of Israel Community.