Overview
- On Sunday the Arab Joint List, led by Yousef Jabareen, publicly said it would provide parliamentary support to any effort to replace Benjamin Netanyahu but only if its political demands are met.
- Political planners are discussing a scenario in which Gadi Eisenkot could lead a temporary government that relies on outside support from Arab lawmakers without those parties formally joining the coalition.
- Weekend polling averages show a very tight race with the pro‑Netanyahu bloc gaining modestly and the overall contest still dependent on small parties and threshold outcomes.
- Parties are using post‑vote tactics that can shift seat totals: Likud has a reported team to identify potential defectors from Eisenkot’s list, and Shas and United Torah Judaism signed a surplus vote‑sharing agreement to boost ultra‑Orthodox seats.
- Calls for accountability over the Oct. 7 failures are central to bargaining, and Naftali Bennett’s openness to Netanyahu serving as a minister if a state commission of inquiry is established highlights how demands over investigations and policy concessions could determine who governs.