Israeli opposition wars over elections
Liberman attacked Eisenkot and accused him of being 'a clone of Gantz' and betting on Netanyahu. The Israeli opposition is riven by conflicts over who will lead the bloc and the nature of the next coalition. Netanyahu seeks to exploit these divisions. The Arab bloc could decide the fall of Netanyahu's government.
Avigdor Liberman, chairman of the Yisrael Beiteinu party, attacked Gadi Eisenkot, chairman of the Yashar party, calling him 'a clone of Gantz' and accusing him of still betting on Netanyahu to form a national unity government by rotation, and of courting the Haredi parties. These statements come amid a struggle within the Israeli opposition on two fronts: who will lead the opposition bloc as a candidate for prime minister, and the nature of the next coalition. Eisenkot effectively leads the opposition and seeks to keep multiple options open, while Naftali Bennett and Avigdor Liberman compete with him. Meanwhile, Netanyahu seeks to regain the segments that have drifted away from Likud and exploits the divisions within the opposition. The Arab bloc, consisting of the Joint List and the United Arab List, constitutes a decisive force that could determine the fall of Netanyahu's government, with expectations of a high turnout exceeding 70%.