Overview
- The election on Tuesday left Netanyahu’s bloc with 53 seats, the opposition with 48 and Arab‑led lists with 19, creating a possible 67‑seat anti‑Netanyahu majority that neither side can yet convert into a government.
- Eisenkot’s Yashar party accused senior Likud figures of contacting its newly elected MKs to solicit defections.
- Two politicians named in the accusations, Yaakov Bardugo and Almog Cohen, publicly denied making recruitment calls and Minister Orit Strock said a call she made was a personal congratulation.
- Eisenkot has laid out four principles for prospective partners, including recognition of Hamas as a terrorist organization and a requirement for national service, while Joint List and Ra'am signaled they could back an alternative government from outside rather than join it.
- President Isaac Herzog will begin formal consultations this week to recommend who gets the first 28‑day mandate to form a coalition, a test that will determine whether the parliamentary arithmetic can be turned into a stable government and that will shape security policy and daily life for Israelis.