Netanyahu says open to leading ‘unity government’ of Zionist and Haredi parties, after Eisenkot wins mandate from Herzog

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu again calls for a “unity government” of Zionist and Haredi parties under his leadership, saying there is a “vital need” to form such a coalition.

“I don’t rule anyone out, and no one else should be ruling others out,” he says in a video statement released by his office, a day after President Isaac Herzog awarded the mandate to form a government to Yashar chair Gadi Eisenkot.

“We must join forces in the face of the challenges in front of us,” says Netanyahu.

Despite not being granted the mandate by Herzog, Netanyahu argues that as the largest party, Likud should lead a government that includes “all the parties in the national camp, including the Haredi parties, and all other Zionist parties.”

He says he is ready to immediately enter talks with any party willing to discuss his proposal.

אחרי הפגישה של איזנקוט וליברמן, נתניהו ממשיך בקרב הבלימה: "אחדות זה צורך השעה"@DaphnaLiel pic.twitter.com/l4NZZ1lRIh

— החדשות – N12 (@N12News) November 9, 2026

The premier’s demand for a unity government under his leadership is his second in as many days, after he called for one on Saturday, before Herzog announced he was giving the mandate to Eisenkot.

Netanyahu stressed in that announcement that any such government would have to include all his allies from the outgoing coalition, meaning the ultranationalist Religious Zionism and Otzma Yehudit factions, and the ultra-Orthodox parties, together with his Likud party.

He called for the same in the run-up to the October 27 election and in its immediate aftermath, but referred to it in these instances as a “broad national government.”

Netanyahu reiterates his line that “it is impossible to create a government with Hamas supporters, a government that depends on Hamas supporters.”

“It is impossible to fight Iran and its other radical Islamic followers if you depend on radical Islam in the government,” he says, referring to the two Arab parties who supported Eisenkot for prime minister.