Gadi Eizenkot, chairman of the Yashar! party and former IDF chief of staff, has reportedly proposed a new framework aimed at resolving the growing leadership rivalry within Israel’s anti-Netanyahu bloc. Under the plan, the leader of whichever party wins the most seats in the next election would automatically receive the bloc’s backing to form a government.

According to a report by Amit Segal on Channel 12 News Sunday evening, Eizenkot presented the proposal several weeks ago to a number of opposition party leaders. The move is intended to avoid a prolonged struggle over who would lead the bloc and, at least for the foreseeable future, appears to sideline the idea of a “grand merger” involving Eizenkot, Naftali Bennett, and Yair Lapid.

The proposal is also directed at Yisrael Beiteinu chairman Avigdor Lieberman, who has repeatedly stated in recent months that he aspires to become prime minister. Current polling places his party at approximately eight to nine seats.

Responding to the report, Opposition Leader Yair Lapid published a message on X in which he appealed directly to Eizenkot.

“We love and appreciate Gadi Eizenkot and believe that if he joins the union it will bring the country hope for change and lay the foundations for the government of repair and healing that the country so desperately needs. Gadi, come!”

Earlier Sunday, Bennett renewed his criticism of Eizenkot over the latter’s recent meeting with Degel HaTorah chairman Moshe Gafni.

Speaking at an event over the weekend, Bennett said: “It’s naive, it’s naive… because you will enter negotiations and then they will say what the parameters are for an exemption. What Gafni and Deri forgot, Eizenkot and Yair Golan have not yet learned. Therefore there is no room for dialogue, simply.”

Bennett’s latest attack on Eizenkot and Yair Golan is part of a broader series of clashes within the opposition and comes as recent surveys have shown growing support for Eizenkot’s Yashar! party.

A Channel 12 poll released last week found that Eizenkot is now viewed as the opposition’s most suitable candidate for prime minister.

The same survey also examined the possibility of a joint slate comprising Bennett, Lapid, and Eizenkot. According to the results, such a unified party would emerge as the largest faction in the Knesset with 38 seats.

However, the poll found that if the parties run separately, they would collectively earn 39 seats—22 for Bennett and Lapid’s joint list and 17 for Eizenkot’s Yashar! party.

The survey further indicated that under a Bennett-Lapid-Eizenkot merger scenario, Likud would maintain its strength with 23 seats. The Democrats would receive 11 seats, while Yisrael Beiteinu would win 10.

Shas would secure eight seats, while both United Torah Judaism and Otzma Yehudit would also receive eight seats each, according to the poll.