Gadi Eisenkot is reportedly crafting an election strategy that would exclude both the chareidi and Arab parties from his future coalition, instead seeking to build a broad Zionist majority while using a universal draft law as a non-negotiable condition for joining the government. The plan also reportedly envisions eventually luring Likud lawmakers into the coalition after Prime Minister Binyomin Netanyahu leaves office.

According to a report by Channel 12 political analyst Amit Segal, Eisenkot, chairman of the Yashar! party, has already mapped out his post-election strategy. If the anti-Netanyahu bloc finishes with 59 seats or fewer, he intends to pursue what he views as a disciplined path to forming a government without relying on either the chareidi or Arab factions.

Segal reported that Eisenkot’s goal is to assemble a coalition of 63 to 64 Knesset members made up exclusively of Zionist parties. The reasoning, according to the report, is that while a bare majority of 61 seats is too fragile to provide long-term stability, a coalition of approximately 64 lawmakers has a far greater chance of surviving.

A key prerequisite for moving forward would be securing a Zionist majority among the lawmakers recommending a prime minister to Israel’s president. Under that calculation, Eisenkot wants to command a majority even after excluding Arab lawmakers and members of United Torah Judaism from the tally.

Should the election produce a bloc of 59 seats or fewer, Eisenkot reportedly intends to seek the formation of a Zionist government by imposing strict entry requirements. At the top of the list is legislation mandating military service or national service for all Israelis, a demand that the report says he views as an absolute prerequisite for joining his coalition.

According to the report, Eisenkot has no intention of negotiating over that requirement. It cited an exchange with Ra’am chairman Mansour Abbas, who, when asked at a conference in southern Israel about Eisenkot’s proposal, responded that he would support such legislation “yes, but…” subject to additional conditions. Under Eisenkot’s approach, that response would be treated as an outright rejection. Any party seeking to negotiate the condition would effectively disqualify itself, meaning that neither the Arab parties nor the chareidi parties would be eligible to join the coalition unless they accepted the requirement without reservation.

The second pillar of the reported strategy would prohibit any behind-the-scenes understandings with Arab or chareidi parties involving abstentions, support, or strategic absences during key votes unless they first accepted Eisenkot’s core conditions. According to the report, Eisenkot is determined to avoid any scenario in which Arab or chareidi politicians could later claim that he or his representatives privately asked them to abstain, leave the chamber, vote in favor of the government, or otherwise assist the coalition.

Instead of relying on quiet political deals, the strategy reportedly seeks to force Arab lawmakers into a public political dilemma. If a Zionist bloc controls approximately 58 seats, Arab parties would have to explain to their own voters whether voting against an Eisenkot-led government would effectively keep Itamar Ben Gvir in the coalition and Binyomin Netanyahu in the Prime Minister’s Office.

The report says the final component of Eisenkot’s strategy focuses on the long term. Rather than forming a short-lived government simply to dissolve the Knesset, the objective would be to establish a coalition capable of remaining in power while encouraging defections from the Likud.

According to the report, although previous speculation suggested Eisenkot wanted only a temporary government that would quickly dissolve the Knesset after establishing a state commission of inquiry and removing Netanyahu from the Prime Minister’s Office to prevent him from “pulling rabbits out of a hat,” the actual plan is to build a government that endures.

The strategy is reportedly based on the belief that once Netanyahu is no longer serving as prime minister, Israel’s political landscape will change dramatically. Those behind the plan believe his departure would eventually persuade Likud lawmakers to break ranks and join the governing coalition, allowing it to expand its majority and strengthen its long-term stability.

{Matzav.com}