Likud officials fear that Gadi Eisenkot’s retreat from advancing an “indictment law”—which would have blocked Benjamin Netanyahu from receiving the mandate to form a government—is designed to lay the groundwork for a different move: establishing a joint government between opposition factions and the Arab parties.
2+In recent weeks, Eisenkot has clarified several times, both in closed forums and publicly, what the opposition’s plan would be if the right doesn’t secure a majority of 61 seats after the election.
According to him, the plan includes seizing control of the Knesset by replacing the Knesset speaker, receiving the mandate from the president to form a government—a move that would also give them control of the Arrangements Committee—and then passing two dramatic laws: an indictment law that would prevent a criminal defendant from forming a government, and a law establishing a state commission of inquiry into the events of October 7.
2+This move, according to Eisenkot, has also won support from the Arab parties and from Yisrael Beiteinu chairman Avigdor Lieberman, who have spoken about it openly. But last weekend, something changed. Eisenkot announced that even if an indictment law passes, it won’t apply to Netanyahu or to the current charges against him for which he’s currently standing trial.
Likud views this announcement as a significant retreat, and party sources say there are two motives behind it. The first is Eisenkot’s fear that such a law, if they seek to apply it to Netanyahu immediately, will face opposition from the Supreme Court, which would strike it down as retroactive and personal legislation.
2+The second issue, more alarming from Likud’s perspective, is Eisenkot’s attempt to find an alternative way to remove Netanyahu from power—by forming a government with the participation of the Arab parties. “Eisenkot understands that the indictment law won’t pass the Supreme Court test, so he’s looking for a workaround,” says a senior Likud source. “That workaround is a government with the Arabs. A scenario that until now Eisenkot was vague about, and now he’s starting to lay the groundwork for it.”
According to these sources, the very act of waiving the law’s application to Netanyahu is designed to make the move seem more “legitimate” in the eyes of the public and the Supreme Court, while simultaneously allowing the Arab parties to join such a government without dependence on personal legislation.