Israel's coalition fraying as Ben Gvir complains of Netanyahu's silence, Eisenkot builds Yashar party institutions, and normalization efforts face obstacles
Ben Gvir reveals Netanyahu hasn't answered his calls; Eisenkot begins building Yashar party institutions; Netanyahu offers Saudi Arabia intelligence assistance…
Israel's coalition fraying as Ben Gvir complains of Netanyahu's silence, Eisenkot builds Yashar party institutions, and normalization efforts face obstacles — National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir revealed on Miki Levin's podcast for Maariv that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has not been answering his calls in recent weeks.[^1] This disclosure, ahead of Yom Kippur, lays bare a tension at the heart of the coalition: Ben Gvir described a close relationship with Netanyahu over the past two years, yet the Prime Minister's silence suggests a breakdown in communication between the two.[^2] The contrast between Ben Gvir's claim of closeness and the reality of unanswered calls is a significant fissure within the government. Meanwhile, the political center is stirring. Gadi Eisenkot, chairman of the Yashar party, has begun building institutions for the party and commits to internal democratic processes within a year.[^3] This move comes as an i24NEWS poll found that 88% of the public do not define Eisenkot as a right-winger, and 48% of respondents trust Arab local council heads more than him.[^4] The poll, conducted by the Direct Polls Institute on September 17, 2026, with 525 adult respondents and a sampling error of ±4.2%, suggests Eisenkot faces a significant trust deficit as he attempts to build a viable party.[^5] On the diplomatic front, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made a secret attempt to salvage normalization with Saudi Arabia by offering Israeli intelligence and military assistance to Riyadh against the Houthis. However, senior US officials told The Jerusalem Post that a meeting between President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is not currently planned during Netanyahu's upcoming US visit. This suggests the normalization path remains blocked, with Riyadh repeatedly making clear it will not move toward full normalization without a credible path to a two-state solution. The coalition's internal strains, the center's institutional efforts, and the stalled normalization track all point to a political landscape in flux. The question is whether these centrifugal forces can be contained before they reshape the government's stability