Israel opposition touts progress ousting Netanyahu after U-turn on ultra-Orthodox
Israel's opposition said Friday it was making headway in its bid to oust Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as one of its leaders lifted his veto on demands that ultra-Orthodox Jews serve in the military, opening the door to a once improbable alliance with the community.
Neither Netanyahu, Israel's longest-serving prime minister, nor opposition chief Gadi Eisenkot reached a majority in the October 27 election, with Israeli society highly polarized over Netanyahu and worn down by three years of war.
Eisenkot said he expected President Isaac Herzog, who met party leaders this week, to present him with the mandate to form a government when he makes his announcement Sunday.
"We have made significant progress and achieved breakthroughs, quietly and modestly, with much still happening behind the scenes," Eisenkot wrote in an X post moments before much of Israel shut down for the weekly Sabbath.
Yair Golan, Israel's main left-wing leader and part of the opposition bloc, also pointed to progress, saying: "I'm more optimistic than I was on the Wednesday morning after the election results."
Eisenkot, a former military commander whose campaign sought to appeal to secular and liberal Israelis, could form a government with Israeli-Arabs, whose seat count soared on anger towards Netanyahu's far-right government.
But an alliance with Israeli-Arabs faces strong disagreement from opposition partner Avigdor Liberman, a onetime aide to Netanyahu who now sharply criticizes the prime minister but shares his hawkish views on the Palestinians.
Liberman said Friday he would not back down on refusing to work with Israeli-Arabs but called for talks with ultra-Orthodox Jews, even though he ran on promises to end their exemption from Israel's mandatory military service.
Liberman said it was time to "understand that trying to have everything risks getting nothing".
"This pains me, and I know it pains many others as well. But given the full range of challenges we face today, the national interest of the State of Israel and the Jewish people must take precedence over all other considerations," Liberman said.
- Ultra-Orthodox wield power again -
Ultra-Orthodox Jews' exemption from military service has fueled widespread resentment among other Israelis, with reservists serving multiple tours in the wars Israel has been fighting since the October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas.
Netanyahu, while personally secular, has long relied on the ultra-Orthodox, accepting that the community -- which accounts for around 14 percent of the population and has a much higher birth rate than the Israeli average -- can send children to religious schools rather than the army.
But he stopped short of enshrining the military exemption into law, angering the two main ultra-Orthodox parties which left his government, although they did not seek to remove him.
One of the parties, United Torah Judaism, declined Thursday to recommend Netanyahu to form the next government during consultations with Herzog, but without supporting Eisenkot.
Yaakov Asher, a lawmaker from the party, welcomed Liberman's U-turn and said its rabbis would assess any formal proposal of an alliance.
"It is encouraging to learn of the flexibility of all political actors on the subject of conscription," Asher said.
"It is painful to think how much incitement and hatred between brothers could have been avoided had that same flexibility been demonstrated in recent years."
His party and the other ultra-Orthodox formation, Shas, together have 13 seats, enough to bring Eisenkot to power.
Liberman put up posters during the campaign vowing to crack down on the "draft-dodgers". During an appearance earlier this year, he described ultra-Orthodox Jews as "anti-Jewish" for their demands.
His Yisrael Beiteinu party won seven seats, the fewest among the five core opposition parties. Naftali Bennett, a former prime minister, also ran heavily on promises to end the military exemption and has not commented on Liberman's about-face.
- War clouds -
Eisenkot in his pre-sabbath statement said he remained committed to "mandatory service for all" but that it could be civilian work, offering a path to integrate the ultra-Orthodox.
He called on parties to join him "now or at a later stage" -- hinting he could first form a minority government that is backed by lawmakers who do not initially join it.
Eisenkot said change was urgent, alluding to speculation Netanyahu could soon resume war against Iran alongside US President Donald Trump, despite both leaders' election losses.
"The current government poses a fundamental threat to the very existence of Israeli democracy. This is no exaggeration. All this is happening while warfronts remain open and subject to political and personal whims," he said.
Source: Agence France Presse
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