Report: Eisenkot-led bloc looking to replace Ohana as Knesset speaker with support of Arab parties

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Speaker of the Knesset MK Amir Ohana attends a plenum session at the assembly hall of the Knesset in Jerusalem, January 21, 2026. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Despite the lack of clarity as to the forming of a new government, Channel 12 reports that the bloc led by Yashar’s Gadi Eisenkot is looking to use its votes plus those of the Arab parties to replace Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana, a member of Likud.

It has not yet aligned on a candidate, according to the report, though it named Yisrael Beytenu MK Oded Forer and Elazar Stern of Yashar as options being discussed.

The latest results, with the count ongoing, have Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s bloc at 54 seats, Eisenkot’s at 49 and the Arab parties at 17, giving the anti-Netanyahu bloc 66 seats.