Yashar rejects unity government with Netanyahu, urges Herzog to give Eisenkot premiership

Yashar representatives urge President Isaac Herzog to give party leader Gadi Eisenkot the mandate to form a government, arguing that Israel needs new leadership and rejecting a unity arrangement with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Former Shin Bet chief and incoming MK Yoram Cohen says Israel needs a stable government quickly and that Yashar will welcome any party that accepts its principles. Given the high voter turnout in last week’s election, he says, “it would be wrong to ignore the people’s desire for change and go to another round of elections.”

MK Orit Farkash-Hacohen says giving Eisenkot the mandate is “nothing less than a matter of saving the State of Israel.” She calls Netanyahu an obstacle to unity, saying his leadership has brought Israel to “a historic low” in social division.

“Unity is not a slogan,” she says, challenging Herzog to name a promise Netanyahu had kept in past unity coalitions.

Asked about forming a broad national government, incoming MK Shaul Meridor says the outgoing government had lost public trust. “The public told the October 7 government: ‘Go home,'” he says.

When asked about forming a government given the opposition’s lack of a Knesset majority, Cohen says Yashar will first negotiate with the parties already partnered with it in the opposition bloc, forming a core that could later be joined by others who accept the bloc’s principles.

“I hope there will be no surprises,” he says, “and if there are, only pleasant ones.”

Incoming MK Inbar Harosh Gity says Eisenkot has shown “the stature to be a unifying leader for all Israelis, whether they voted for him or not.” Yisrael Zeri also describes Yashar as a unifying party, pointing to its members from across the religious and political spectrum.

Cohen says Netanyahu himself, not his Likud party, is responsible for the lack of unity among Israelis, citing his attacks on state institutions and derogatory comments about Arab citizens.