Eisenkot Insists on Mandatory Service for All as Liberman Softens Stance on ultra-Orthodox Partners

Yashar chairman Gadi Eisenkot on Friday reaffirmed four demands that any party must accept to join the coalition he is working to build, among them mandatory national service for all Israelis. His statement came hours after Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Liberman indicated he was prepared to sit with ultra-Orthodox parties, which fiercely oppose drafting Haredi youth.

In a lengthy post on X, Eisenkot wrote that "Israel is in a state of genuine, tangible and dangerous emergency," and charged that the current government poses a fundamental threat to Israeli democracy while war fronts remain active and subject, he said, to political and personal whims. He described Israel as being in the midst of a dangerous diplomatic tsunami.

Eisenkot said he has spent recent days advancing a plan with his partners to form a national emergency government, and that he is working to swear in a new government as soon as possible. Its foundation would be four Jewish-led opposition parties: Yashar with 21 seats, B'Yachad with 12, The Democrats with eight, and Yisrael Beytenu with seven.

Together those parties hold only 48 of the Knesset's 120 seats, short of a majority. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's traditional right-wing and religious bloc won 53 seats, while the Arab-led Ra'am and Joint List took a combined 19, leaving the opposition in need of additional partners or outside support.

"Any other party or MK who agrees to my four core principles will be invited to join, whether immediately or at a later stage," Eisenkot said, adding that he planned to approach every Knesset faction. The principles are recognition of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state, acceptance of the values of the Declaration of Independence, mandatory military, national or civilian service for all to strengthen the IDF and expand its ranks, and recognition of Hamas as a terrorist organization with a commitment to dismantling its military and governing power.

Eisenkot appeared to have slightly adjusted the fourth principle, speaking of "dismantling" rather than the destruction of Hamas's capabilities, a shift that could leave room for diplomatic solutions on Gaza and might be easier for Ra'am to accept. B'Yachad and Yisrael Beytenu, however, have ruled out forming a coalition with Ra'am.

The renewed emphasis on mandatory service followed Liberman's statement earlier Friday that he was ready to reverse years of opposition to governing with ultra-Orthodox parties and accept what he called "painful compromises" on Haredi enlistment in order to form a government without Netanyahu and avoid another election. Liberman nonetheless said he would not back a government dependent on Ra'am or the Joint List.

Eisenkot said elected officials have a duty to prevent both another round of elections and Netanyahu remaining in power, arguing it is "dangerous" for a caretaker prime minister commanding only a Knesset minority to keep directing the security establishment and law enforcement. He noted that 67 MKs recommended him to form the next coalition, while United Torah Judaism's seven MKs did not recommend Netanyahu, leaving the premier with 46 supporters and 74 lawmakers who had not expressed confidence in him.

President Isaac Herzog said Thursday that factions representing 67 lawmakers recommended Eisenkot, against 46 for Netanyahu, but stressed that recommendations alone do not decide who gets the mandate. Under Israeli law, the president selects the lawmaker he believes has the best chance of forming a government, and Herzog said he intends to assign the mandate on Sunday after further consultations.

Eisenkot said his team had invested "dozens of hours" in negotiations and had achieved a breakthrough, much of it out of public view, and promised a "stable, unifying and responsible leadership." His path remains complicated: the Joint List backed him and told Herzog it was ready to support a government from outside, but several of Eisenkot's Jewish opposition partners have ruled out depending on the Arab parties to govern. He warned that anyone who sabotages the government's formation for personal reasons "will go down in history" as failing to act during an emergency.