A day after the meeting of the heads of the Change Bloc: disagreements over the understandings reached at the meeting
A day after the meeting of the heads of the Change Bloc, disagreements emerged over the understandings reached. Bennett, Lapid, Golan, Lieberman, and Eisenkot signed a joint principles document to replace the government, but misunderstandings remained regarding the identity of the candidate for prime minister. Lieberman and Bennett understood that it was agreed not to address this until after the elections, while Eisenkot's campaign continued to present him as a candidate against Netanyahu.
A day after the meeting of the heads of the Change Bloc, disagreements emerged over the understandings reached at the meeting. This was reported this evening on the Kan News broadcast. Naftali Bennett, Yair Lapid, Yair Golan, Avigdor Lieberman, and Gadi Eisenkot gathered last night at Lapid's home in Tel Aviv and signed a 'joint principles document to replace the government.' In a statement they published, it was written: 'Out of recognition that even if there are ideological disagreements between us, replacing the government is our shared overarching goal, and it is our duty to act together to achieve it.' However, even after signing the joint principles, it became clear that misunderstandings remained among the leaders. According to Bennett and Lieberman's understanding, it was agreed not to address the identity of the candidate for prime minister until after the elections. When asked about this today, Lieberman replied that they would discuss it later. But during the day, Eisenkot's campaign again published advertisements presenting the elections as a contest between Netanyahu and Eisenkot, sparking anger in the other parties. Eisenkot's associates claim that there was no verbal agreement to stop addressing the candidacy for prime minister - and that all agreements were made in writing, in the document they signed. The gap between the different understandings of the parties indicates the fragility of the understandings within the bloc, and the challenges expected in managing the joint campaign.