Netanyahu, Eisenkot each announce intentions to form Israel’s next government

The two leading candidates for the office of prime minister – incumbent Benjamin Netanyahu and challenger Gadi Eisenkot – both delivered celebratory speeches following the close of elections on Tuesday night, with each pledging to form Israel’s next government.

Eisenkot, head of the Yashar party and the leading opposition politician in the polls, said Tuesday night that polls indicated a clear decision by the public against the current coalition government.

In an official statement, Eisenkot said, “The preliminary poll results point to complete distrust in Netanyahu and the government of October 7, by the Zionist majority and the majority of Israeli citizens.”

“If these are the final results, this is a victory for the statist-Zionist majority in Israel,” he continued, saying, “I will act immediately to realize the decision of the people, to replace the Netanyahu government and to establish a Zionist conscription government, as soon as possible.”

At the same time, Eisenkot announced he would convene a meeting with the heads of the opposition bloc parties, aimed at coordinating positions, forming a common front and examining the steps to form the next coalition.

In a speech at Yashar headquarters, Eisenkot said, “These are still exit poll results, and we must wait for the final count, but it can already be determined that Netanyahu finds himself tonight facing a larger and stronger national Zionist majority.”

“The public voted for change. The coalition of failure has lost the people’s trust. The Israeli public voted against Netanyahu continuing as prime minister,” Eisenkot said. “A worthy leader would have accepted the people's distrust and announced today his retirement from political life.”

“In an election with such a high voter turnout, it would be a mistake to go to another election,” Eisenkot added, as neither bloc appears to have enough for a majority coalition.

He also said that “millions of Israelis are fed up with the culture of lies.”

Addressing the issue of Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) conscription, which has been a controversial issue, Eisenkot declared, “Millions voted in favor of conscription for all; I will do everything in my power to establish a Zionist conscription government. I can assure you, the era of evasion is over. I will act to represent the entire Israeli public – this is not a victory of one side over another side of the people, but a victory of the entire people of Israel.”

Eisenkot promised to form a government committed to the values of a Jewish-democratic state.

“This will be a government that will be committed to recognizing a Jewish-Democratic State of Israel, which is committed to the values of the Declaration of Independence, to passing a service law for all and to dismantling Hamas.”

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Netanyahu struck a more reserved tone in his comments at the Likud party headquarters at the end of elections.

Netanyahu waited almost five hours before addressing his party. “We are still waiting for the true results.”

However, he noted that polls showed his Likud party remained “the biggest party in Israel.”

Netanyahu called for a “strong right-wing government” while rejecting partnership with the Arab parties.

“We must establish a strong right-wing national government,” he said. “We must not endanger Israel and establish a government that relies on anti-Zionist Arab governments, which see Hamas as a charitable organization and call our soldiers war criminals.”

Netanyahu’s speech to his supporters played heavily on his government's military achievements since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks. Netanyahu focused particularly on Iran and the joint operations with the United States.

“Iran is weaker than ever; Israel is stronger than ever,” he said.

Netanyahu said, “Israel is facing a historic, one-time opportunity along with our friend President Trump, to remove the Iranian threat once and for all.”

While early exit polls suggested that Eisenkot’s bloc would win more seats, vote counts released later showed Netanyahu’s coalition with a larger number of Knesset seats at the time of publication.