{
  "id": 19206776,
  "title": "Netanyahu confidante Eshel repeatedly inquired with Ra'am's Abbas about Eisenkot coalition - report",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/09/netanyahu-confidante-eshel-repeatedly-inquired-with-raams-abbas-about",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-11-09T20:10:51.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Jerusalem Post",
    "slug": "jerusalem-post",
    "url": "https://www.jpost.com/israel-election-2026/article-914380"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's chief of staff and confidante, Natan Eshel, repeatedly contacted Raam party chairman Mansour Abbas to dissuade him from collaborating with Yesh at party leader Gadi Eisenkot, according to a report by N12 News. Eshel's inquiries occurred before, during, and after the recent Israeli election.\n\nInitially, Abbas stated that they would wait until after the election results before deciding on their stance concerning Eisenkot. However, Eshel continued to contact Abbas after the election, but never received a response.\n\nWhen questioned about his relationship with Abbas, Eshel initially claimed to have severed all connections. However, he later admitted that he asked some Arabs whether they had any self-respect and whether they would support someone who did not value their participation in the coalition. Abbas responded, echoing the sentiment of many, by stating that they would act in their best interest.\n\nNetanyahu's Likud party also responded to N12's request for comment, expressing surprise at the report and asserting that Eshel's actions were unaware of by Netanyahu.",
  "summary": "One of the first occasions on which Eshel made contact with Abbas, N12 reported, was to ask him about whether he would back Eisenkot in a vote over the draft law.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 4,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "Arutz Sheva - Israel National News",
        "title": "Trump on Eisenkot: He and Netanyahu have very similar views",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/08/trump-on-eisenkot-he-and-netanyahu-have-very-similar-views",
        "published": "2026-11-08T23:54:31.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Haaretz",
        "title": "Trump: Eisenkot and Netanyahu share similar policy views",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/09/trump-eisenkot-and-netanyahu-share-similar-policy-views",
        "published": "2026-11-09T00:04:19.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "The Times of Israel",
        "title": "Trump says Eisenkot and Netanyahu are ‘very similar in terms of their policy’",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/09/trump-says-eisenkot-and-netanyahu-are-very-similar-in-terms-of-their",
        "published": "2026-11-09T00:23:08.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}