Eisenkot Cancels Likud Coalition Talks After Netanyahu's Speech as Israel's 26th Knesset Is Sworn In
On the Knesset's first day, 67 opposition signatures began the move to replace the speaker, and a planned meeting between Yashar and Likud was cancelled after Netanyahu urged a unity government.
Tuesday, November 10, 2026/2 min read
Israel's 26th Knesset opened on Tuesday with the arithmetic still unresolved and the tone already sour. All 120 members were sworn in, and within hours Gadi Eisenkot's Yashar party cancelled a coalition meeting with Likud that had been planned for Wednesday, after Benjamin Netanyahu used his address to call for a unity government and, in Eisenkot's words, produced a speech that was "delusional, divisive, hateful, and disgraceful."
The cancellation, first reported by the Jerusalem Post, is the sharpest turn yet in the 28-day window that President Isaac Herzog opened last Sunday when he gave Eisenkot the mandate to try to form a government. We covered that mandate in an earlier piece.
What happened at the Knesset swearing-in?
The Jerusalem Post reported that the new chamber includes 47 first-time members and 33 women. Herzog urged lawmakers to avoid another election, saying everything possible must be done to prevent one. Netanyahu's bloc holds 53 seats, the opposition without the Arab parties 48, and the Arab parties a record 19, so neither side has the 61 needed.
The ceremony itself was tense. According to the same report, Joint List members walked out during the national anthem after the oath, while Ra'am, led by Mansour Abbas, stayed standing. Itamar Ben-Gvir interrupted Joint List leader Yousef Jabareen's pledge. In his speech, Netanyahu warned that Iran is trying to revive its nuclear programme and, as The Media Line reported, criticised the Arab parties, prompting Democrats chairman Yair Golan and several Arab lawmakers to leave the chamber.
Why did Eisenkot cancel the Likud meeting?
Yashar said it had asked all factions to negotiate in good faith on four principles it has set for a government, and that the speech showed Netanyahu does not want unity and has chosen his political survival. Likud answered that Netanyahu will turn over every stone for national unity and called it puzzling that Yashar kept talking to Arab parties while cancelling the Likud meeting. The Times of Israel's live blog records Netanyahu accusing Ra'am and the Joint List of seeking Israel's destruction.
Eisenkot told reporters the speech left him more certain that Netanyahu is unfit for office, the live blog says.
What is the opposition doing with its majority?
Yashar said 67 lawmakers signed a request to replace Speaker Amir Ohana of Likud with former minister Matan Kahana, per The Media Line. Ohana said a vote will be held next Tuesday, 17 November, after a majority of members asked for it, according to the Times of Israel. The bloc also submitted bills for a state inquiry into the 7 October attacks, a limit on prime ministerial terms and repeal of the judicial overhaul. The Times of Israel adds that Avigdor Liberman is slated to chair the Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee.
Control of the speaker's chair would give Eisenkot's bloc control of the legislative agenda while talks continue. The vote on 17 November will show whether the 67 signatures hold, and whether any door to Likud is still open.
Published in The Outspoken Digest
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