Gadi Eisenkot's Yashar party on Monday invited the ultra-Orthodox parties Shas and United Torah Judaism to support an opposition bid to replace Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana, one day before the inaugural session of the 26th Knesset.
Unseating the speaker requires at least 61 lawmakers to formally sign a request or to vote in favor of electing a replacement. Ohana, a member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud, said last week that he would not hold such a vote on the day of the swearing-in ceremony, but would schedule it for the following week if a formal request with sufficient backing were submitted.
Removing Ohana would hand the opposition bloc greater control over the parliamentary agenda, including votes, legislation, and committee appointments, even if Netanyahu stays in office at the head of a caretaker government. An earlier replacement would also give the bloc more time to advance its legislative priorities.
Incoming lawmaker Roy Folkman, who chairs Yashar's Knesset faction, sent letters to the leaders of both ultra-Orthodox factions asking them to join the effort. The party said the process of gathering signatures ahead of submitting the formal request is already underway.
The outreach marks a notable shift for the opposition bloc, which had previously drawn a red line against partnering with the ultra-Orthodox parties. Amid the political deadlock that followed the October 27 elections, bloc leaders have recently opened the door to negotiations with them, presenting such cooperation as an alternative route to forming a government.
Shas has shown no public intention of joining the opposition and recommended Netanyahu to the president last week as its choice to form the next government. United Torah Judaism, by contrast, abstained from recommending any candidate to President Isaac Herzog, despite its long role as a key Netanyahu coalition partner. Tensions have been reported between UTJ and the prime minister over ultra-Orthodox draft legislation during the previous government's term.
Eisenkot has said he is willing to partner with lawmakers from other parties provided they endorse four principles he recently outlined. He has urged the opposition to move quickly to form a "national emergency government" and to pursue parliamentary steps, including replacing the speaker immediately after the new Knesset is sworn in, and has pledged to repeal laws that "threaten democracy."
The opposition bloc has not yet settled on a candidate to replace Ohana, ending its last joint meeting without consensus and setting Monday as the deadline for a decision. One proposal under consideration would make Eisenkot speaker, with him resigning if he succeeds in forming a government and becoming prime minister, or remaining in the post if he fails. Yisrael Beytenu chief Avigdor Liberman announced last week that he backs B'Yachad's Yair Lapid for the job and was reportedly expected to meet Eisenkot on Monday to discuss the matter.
Eisenkot formally received the mandate to form a government from Herzog on Sunday at a ceremony at the President's Residence, where he said "creative and unconventional political steps" would be needed. His bloc holds 48 seats to the Netanyahu bloc's 53, short of the 61 required for a majority. Eisenkot has 28 days from Sunday to form a government, with a possible 14-day extension, and other outcomes include a unity government, a minority government, or another round of elections.
