Israel opposition meets to back Eisenkot, but Netanyahu says voters chose him

Gadi Eisenkot, a former military chief and incumbent Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s main challenger, during a campaign event in Haifa, Israel, on Sept. 23 | AMIT ELKAYAM / THE NEW YORK TIMES

AFP-JIJI

Nov 3, 2026

JERUSALEM – Party heads in the Israeli opposition camp, led by Gadi Eisenkot, will meet on Tuesday after they all endorsed him for prime minister, while incumbent Benjamin Netanyahu has called for a broad coalition government under his leadership.

It will be the diverse opposition grouping’s first meeting since last week’s close-fought election delivered no majority for either camp.

Eisenkot’s Yashar party said the leaders of the “change” grouping would meet “to discuss coordinating the bloc’s next steps” in Herzliya on Tuesday morning.

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