Eisenkot Pledges to Replace Netanyahu Government After Election
(MENAFN) Gadi Eisenkot, leader of Israel’s Yashar party, said late Wednesday that voters had rejected Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, vowing to establish a new administration focused on mandatory military service as election projections showed neither major political bloc securing a parliamentary majority.
In a statement posted on X, Eisenkot said he had completed a lengthy day of meetings and consultations aimed at translating voters’ demands into political action.
“Long working days still lie ahead, but we are focused on the weighty task entrusted to us: bringing change to Israel and forming a Zionist government committed to conscription,” he wrote.
Eisenkot said the electorate had rejected “the government of Oct. 7 and draft evasion,” along with what he described as the broader “draft-dodgers’ bloc,” referring to Netanyahu’s governing alliance.
He added that the bloc had fallen to its weakest position in two decades.
“I feel the weight of the responsibility and the trust placed in me by hundreds of thousands of citizens who believe in the State of Israel and in Zionism,” Eisenkot wrote.
“Thanks to you, we made history,” he told his supporters, describing Yashar as a political movement established within a year that had gained support across different segments of Israeli society and presented itself as a credible, responsible alternative to the current government.
Eisenkot pledged to move forward with the task of forming a new administration, declaring: “We will act and succeed.”
With 89.8% of ballots counted, preliminary projections showed Netanyahu’s bloc winning 53 seats in the 120-member Knesset, while the bloc led by Eisenkot was expected to secure 48. The two predominantly Arab parties were projected to obtain a combined 19 seats.
Neither of the two main blocs had reached the 61 seats required for a parliamentary majority.
The results remained preliminary, with hundreds of thousands of “double-envelope” ballots still to be counted, including votes cast by soldiers and diplomats.
In a statement posted on X, Eisenkot said he had completed a lengthy day of meetings and consultations aimed at translating voters’ demands into political action.
“Long working days still lie ahead, but we are focused on the weighty task entrusted to us: bringing change to Israel and forming a Zionist government committed to conscription,” he wrote.
Eisenkot said the electorate had rejected “the government of Oct. 7 and draft evasion,” along with what he described as the broader “draft-dodgers’ bloc,” referring to Netanyahu’s governing alliance.
He added that the bloc had fallen to its weakest position in two decades.
“I feel the weight of the responsibility and the trust placed in me by hundreds of thousands of citizens who believe in the State of Israel and in Zionism,” Eisenkot wrote.
“Thanks to you, we made history,” he told his supporters, describing Yashar as a political movement established within a year that had gained support across different segments of Israeli society and presented itself as a credible, responsible alternative to the current government.
Eisenkot pledged to move forward with the task of forming a new administration, declaring: “We will act and succeed.”
With 89.8% of ballots counted, preliminary projections showed Netanyahu’s bloc winning 53 seats in the 120-member Knesset, while the bloc led by Eisenkot was expected to secure 48. The two predominantly Arab parties were projected to obtain a combined 19 seats.
Neither of the two main blocs had reached the 61 seats required for a parliamentary majority.
The results remained preliminary, with hundreds of thousands of “double-envelope” ballots still to be counted, including votes cast by soldiers and diplomats.
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