Eisenkot rules out joining a Netanyahu-led cabinet, Israeli broadcaster reports

Israeli opposition figure Gadi Eisenkot has ruled out joining a cabinet led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel's public broadcaster KAN reported on Monday, citing unnamed sources. According to the broadcaster, Eisenkot made the remarks during a recent closed-door meeting, saying: "I will not sit in a [cabinet] led by Netanyahu." He was also quoted as saying that if US President Donald Trump invited him, he would respect the president and attend, but would stress that this concerns internal Israeli affairs and that he would prevent any interference.

The remarks came after Netanyahu expressed willingness to hold talks on forming a broad cabinet while insisting that he remain its leader. Netanyahu also rejected a coalition dependent on the two main Arab parties, Ra'am and the Joint List. In last week's parliamentary elections, Netanyahu's bloc won 53 seats, compared with 48 for the Jewish-led opposition parties and 19 for the Arab parties, leaving neither camp with a majority in the 120-member Knesset.

Naftali Bennett's Together party, Yair Golan's Democrats and Avigdor Lieberman's Yisrael Beytenu party have decided to recommend Eisenkot to form the next cabinet. Expected recommendations from the two Arab lists could increase his backing to 67 lawmakers. However, Lieberman's refusal to join a cabinet that includes Arab parties or relies on their support remains a major obstacle to forming a coalition.

Opposition leaders are scheduled to meet on Tuesday to coordinate their positions before President Isaac Herzog begins two days of consultations with parliamentary factions on Wednesday. The consultations are part of the process of determining which lawmaker has the best chance of assembling a governing coalition after the election produced no clear majority.

According to Mehr News, the report by KAN cited unnamed sources for Eisenkot's remarks and did not provide further details on the closed-door meeting. The broadcaster's account places the opposition's internal negotiations in the context of the post-election consultations set to begin on Wednesday.