New Israeli parliament to take aim at Netanyahu as Eisenkot seeks government

Jerusalem's Knesset convened on Tuesday with 120 newly elected parliamentarians taking the oath of office. The new administration aims to swiftly challenge caretaker prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, while Gadi Eisenkot seeks to swiftly assemble a government. As the leader of a diverse coalition, Eisenkot will set the agenda, backed by Israeli-Arab parties, despite not having a majority on their own.

Israel's longest-serving prime minister, Netanyahu, does not hold the necessary majority independently. President Isaac Herzog, opening the session, urged all sides to cooperate and avert another election in a deeply divided nation exhausted from three years of conflict. Nearly 80% of the population participated in the election, and Herzog called for compromise.

Eisenkot's allies hope to swiftly address crucial matters, such as investigating security lapses that led to the Oct 7, 2023, Hamas attack, the deadliest day in Israel's history. After the opening, Eisenkot's party announced agreements to replace key allies of Netanyahu, who has been in and out of office for nearly two decades. The new parliament speaker, Matan Kahana, will be nominated by Eisenkot's bloc, guaranteed by Arab-Israeli lawmakers.

However, to form a government, Eisenkot needs 61 votes, a majority. Right-wing member Avigdor Liberman, who has significant influence in deciding coalition members, refuses to join a government relying on Arab-Israeli parties, even if they support it from the outside. Liberman plans to investigate allegations of foreign funding to the parties.

Arab-Israeli lawmakers, led by Mansour Abbas of the Israeli-Arab party Raam, have rejected Netanyahu's accusations of fraud and affirmed their commitment to a two-state solution with the Palestinians, a stance differing from both Netanyahu and Eisenkot.