Report: Eisenkot, Liberman agree next Knesset speaker should come from Yashar

Yashar chairman Gadi Eisenkot and Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Liberman agreed at a meeting earlier today that the next Knesset speaker should come from Yashar, Hebrew media reports.

Earlier reports said the opposition bloc leaders had floated appointing B’Yachad No. 2 Yair Lapid to the position, an idea Liberman publicly endorsed.

The pair still need to discuss the proposal with the other leaders of the four-party so-called Zionist opposition bloc, B’Yachad chairman Naftali Bennett and Democrats leader Yair Golan, according to reports, and are holding off on an announcement until they have done so.

Opposition parties have demanded an early vote to elect a new speaker at the Knesset’s inaugural session tomorrow, which would pave the way to oust incumbent Amir Ohana of Likud and install a speaker opposed to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Ohana cannot block a vote to elect his successor, which requires only a simple majority of 61, provided the opposition parties agree on a candidate. He has said he will schedule a discussion on the matter if a majority of MKs request one.