Consultations in Jerusalem: ultra-Orthodox break with Netanyahu, Arab parties back Eisenkot

Israeli President Isaac Herzog continued into the second day the consultations for forming the new government, meeting a series of delegations including United Torah Judaism, Otzma Yehudit, the Democrats and the Arab party Ra’am. It is an institutional step that, meeting after meeting, is bringing to light a scenario different from the one expected just a few days ago.

The most significant political development concerns the ultra-Orthodox faction: during the meeting with Herzog, United Torah Judaism did not put forward any name as a candidate to lead the government. This marks a break in the alliance that for years tied the ultra-Orthodox world to Benjamin Netanyahu, and the fact that not even a courtesy endorsement was offered signals how far the gap between the parties has widened.

On the other side of the political spectrum, the Arab party Ra’am and the United Arab List have chosen to put forward Gadi Eisenkot, former chief of staff and former leader of Yashar, as prime minister. This is a move coming from a Knesset component that does not normally take part in the race for the premiership with a name of its own, and it gains weight precisely at the moment when the ultra-Orthodox front leaves a vacuum.

During Ra’am’s delegation, the party’s representatives linked their political position to Gaza, stating:

“Hamas must lay down its weapons. Support for the Trump plan for Gaza” — representatives of the Ra’am party, Israeli Arab political delegation

The statement explicitly ties the backing of Eisenkot to a substantive position on the Gaza file, a connection that Israeli Arab parties had not previously made public with this degree of clarity in earlier rounds of consultations.

Adding further density to the day was the presence of Tony Blair, adviser to the Board of Peace for Gaza, who went to Herzog’s residence during a break in the consultations. The coincidence between the visit of a figure linked to the Gaza file and the day on which Arab parties backed a prime ministerial candidate tied to that very issue is not explained in the available sources, but it remains an element that falls within the same timeframe.

Herzog’s consultations are the mechanism through which the Israeli president gathers the Knesset parties’ recommendations before assigning the mandate to form a government. The fact that the ultra-Orthodox component has not yet resolved its position, while the Arab parties have already chosen to line up behind a specific name, points to a governing majority still to be put together, with balances that just the second day of consultations has already called into question compared with the previous day’s expectations.

It remains to be seen which other delegations Herzog will meet in the coming days and whether the break between the ultra-Orthodox and Netanyahu will translate into an alternative nomination or into a prolonged stalemate. For now, on the record of the consultations stand two distinct facts: no name from the ultra-Orthodox front, one specific name — Eisenkot — from the Arab front.