Eisenkot's Arab-backed coalition will oust Netanyahu, a goal worth pursuing even if the government is short-lived
Source: Fred Kaplan. "Israel is forming a government that will oust Netanyahu.." November 5, 2026. slate.com
The Gist
After an inconclusive election, Israel's opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot has teamed up with two Arab parties to get a majority and push Netanyahu out. The deal is fragile and probably won't last, but the author argues that removing Netanyahu is what matters most now, especially with Israel's standing in the U.S. and the West slipping.
Conclusion
Israel is forming a coalition government with Israeli Arab parties that will oust Netanyahu. Although it is unlikely to last long, it will last long enough to remove him, and that is what matters most for Israel right now.
Premises
- Israel's recent election produced a stalemate: Netanyahu's bloc won 53 seats and Eisenkot's won 48, short of the 61 needed, while two Arab parties together won 19 seats, nearly double their previous total.
- Netanyahu cannot realistically bring in the Arab parties, because his far-right partners would resign and leave him short of a majority, whereas Eisenkot, with the Arab parties' support, reaches 67 seats, a comfortable majority.
- Eisenkot and the Arab leaders (Abbas and Jabareen) have announced they are joining forces, united by a shared desire to remove Netanyahu and his far-right ministers Ben-Gvir and Smotrich.
- Eisenkot fears another Netanyahu term more than he fears including Arabs, because Netanyahu's reliance on Trump looks dubious and irrelevant after the U.S. midterms (Trump's announced halt to $4 billion in military aid, the Democratic victory) and because Israel is increasingly isolated in the U.S. and the West.
- Eisenkot differs from Netanyahu in ways that matter (no West Bank annexation, no tolerance of settler violence, diplomacy over regime change in Iran), so he hopes replacing Netanyahu and including Arabs will soften Western hostility and the 'apartheid' perception.
- The coalition is internally fragile because of disagreements between Eisenkot and the Arab parties and between the Arab parties themselves, as in the short-lived Bennett-Ra'am government of 2021, so it will likely be brief.
Assumptions
- The coalition agreement will hold for at least long enough to complete the transfer of power from Netanyahu.
- Removing Netanyahu is intrinsically valuable and improves Israel's international standing, even though Eisenkot's core policies on Gaza and the occupation are similar.
- Western and American hostility to Israel is driven substantially by Netanyahu personally, rather than by structural policies that Eisenkot would continue.
- Including Arab parties in government will meaningfully alter perceptions of Israel as an apartheid state.
- The U.S. midterm results and Trump's aid decision are reliable indicators of durable shifts in American support for Israel.
- Even a short-lived government can deliver a lasting benefit simply by ending Netanyahu's tenure.