Eisenkot's claim vs. coalition math in the 2026 vote
Yashar's 16.21% gives Eisenkot a mandate to claim, but the bloc math and a Shas succession fight complicate the path.
Eisenkot's claim vs. coalition math in the 2026 vote — Gadi Eisenkot published his first tweet since his previous speech this afternoon, declaring he is working to establish a "Zionist conscription government" and that the public "expressed no confidence in the October 7 government and the evasion and the bloc of draft dodgers in general."[^1] The Yashar party he founded one year ago received 16.21% of valid votes, behind Likud's 20.66%.[^2] But the arithmetic is not as clear as Eisenkot's language suggests. Attorney Ilana Shoshan, writing in Maariv, directly challenged Eisenkot's framing: she argued the elections were conducted as parties rather than blocs, meaning the public did not decide against Netanyahu as a bloc leader.[^3] Sources in Yisrael Beiteinu, meanwhile, accuse Eisenkot, Naftali Bennett, and Yair Golan of returning about eight mandates to the Netanyahu bloc in the ten days before the elections.[^4] The gap between the Joint List (9.19%) and Bennett's Together party (9.03%) is only 8,254 votes — a margin that could shift coalition calculations if final counts change.[^2] Shas is facing its own internal crisis. Spiritual leader Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef is reportedly seeking to oust party chairman Aryeh Deri after the party won just seven seats in Tuesday's election.[^5] And Noam Yisrael chairman Avi Maoz sent a letter overnight acknowledging the party failed to cross the threshold with only 6,219 votes — admitting "we did not succeed in translating the public's sympathy for Noam Yisrael's messages into actual voting."[^6] The question now is whether Eisenkot's claim of a public mandate can survive the bloc arithmetic, or whether the eight seats that drifted back to Netanyahu will define the next government. US dual-track Iran strategy: Vance letter and military preparations — US Vice President JD Vance sent a letter to Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, in an attempt to renew negotiations, the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday evening.[^1] The outreach comes as US officials have conveyed to several Middle Eastern countries and regional allies a message that they should prepare for possible renewed military acti