Embrace Eisenkot

Now that the final results of the latest Israeli elections are in, the new Israeli political situation should be clear. Six parties with a total of 67 seats have declared their support for Gadi Eisenkot, the former Chief of Staff of the Israeli Defense Forces, to become the next prime minister. The seven parties of the existing coalition under Benjamin Netanyahu received a total of only 53 seats in the new Knesset, down 15 seats from the current one. Although most of those would prefer to continue serving under Netanyahu, one Ultra-Orthodox party has already sent messengers to meet with Eisenkot.

Given the disastrous last four years of Netanyahu’s administration on every front, one would expect an outbreak of joy in Israel, among Jews, and among Israel’s friends everywhere: apparently Netanyahu can finally be dislodged from the prime minster’s office. Yet the situation is still far from clear, and instead of celebrating the positive results many Israelis are still deeply concerned.

There is much good news. The extreme right, which has been growing all over Europe, shrank by one seat in Israel. The ultra-right “Religious Zionism” party headed by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotritch, is down one seat, now at 6. The religious and especially homophobic party “Noam” was wiped out. Although Minister of Police Itamar Ben Gvir’s infamous “Jewish Power” party campaign aspired to a 2-digit result, they rose only 1 seat, now at 7. All told, Israel’s extreme right will hold only 13 seats in the new Knesset – 10.8%.

The two Ultra-Orthodox parties, Shas and Torah Judaism, have also been set back: their numbers are down from 18 to 13. Their failure is a result of anger, frustration, and chaos within the communities over education, integration, and above all the draft. On this subject, the Ultra-Orthodox leadership lost twice: first, by sparking outrage in the Israeli public for voicing total refusal to serve, even in time of war; second, in their own electorate because they failed to pass a draft law that would guarantee draft exemptions.

Netanyahu’s own “Likud” party lost 5 seats and now holds only 25, or 22% of the places in the Knesset. This he is trying to market as a huge success: indeed, almost all polls thought he’d recieve far less support. For a country still recovering from the 2023 massacre by Hamas and the ensuing wars, including the ongoing tension with Iran, Netanyahu managed to stoke fear and present a tough line to voters – painfully ironic, since the disaster and the unstability all took place under his prime ministership. Persisting in relying on his leadership seems to more than half the country, as has now been shown, as suicidal.

The greatest surprise of the elections was the overwhelming turnout of Arab voters, even in East Jerusalem. Some Arab cities, such as Sachnin in the Galilee, registered 80% voter participation. Numbers were unprecedented. The two Arab parties managed together to garner 19 seats, still not their full potential (Arabs comprise 21% of Israel’s population) but a significant uptick from the previous elections. Even Arab residents of East Jerusalem with citizenship, whom in the past have boycotted all elections, chose to take part. This dramatic mobilization may have an effect on future municipal elections. In addition, tens of thousands of Israelis flew home to vote, in what served as an inspiration and provided momentum as the Coalition for Change organized for the elections.

And yet though all these should be cause for excitement and optimism, such is not the current feeling. Netanyahu is busy working at what he does best. He is talking up a storm, trying to de-legitimize the elections (although the national election committee, the police and internal security services have all pronounced the results as clean and proper). He is trying to prevent the establishment of a new coalition by inciting against the Arab parties and denying the legitimacy of any government that includes Arab parties, although he himself sought them as coalition partners in the past. Terrified of the many ongoing investigations against him, including possible charges of treason against his closest aides in the prime minister’s office, he will do anything to escape trial or loosing the reins of power. It is a deeply worrisome and scary situation, in which racism is being used as a primary tool in battle.

The world should run to embrace and congratulate Gadi Eisenkot, voicing support, confidence and willingness to help him as he builds a new coalition. The last four years have been horrific for Israel not only in terms of security and foreign policy, but have been rife with corruption, egregious bureaucratic mismanagement, growth in poverty, collapse of the ministry of education, and a steep rise in crime. Eisenkot, with a sterling record in the army, a strong list of candidates, and backing from a majority of the new Knesset members, has the potential to set Israel on track after its most traumatic period in history.

Israel’s future could take an historic, dramatic and positive turn if Eisenkot is successful. He should be encouraged, domestically and internationally, to stand firm and lead the building of a new coalition based on new partnership that will be an alternative to the years toxic, divisive and deadly years of Netanyahu.