Arab parties support Eizenkot: where are the coalition negotiations with Israel? | Israel Elections 2026 News

Israel’s Arab parties, which won a record 19 seats in last week’s general election, are poised to back opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot’s bloc, further trampling Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s chances of leading another government.

The main Jewish opposition bloc, which includes four parties, fell short of the 61 seats needed to form a majority in the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, but joining forces with the two main groups that represent Israel’s Palestinian citizens could help avoid political impasse and new elections.

The opposition Change bloc has already pledged not to ally with Netanyahu, citing the security failures that led to the October 7 Hamas attacks and the ongoing corruption trial the prime minister faces.

But securing the support of Arab parties – whether within the ruling coalition or as outside support – also poses a challenge for Eisenkot, on the right, at a time when leaders and parties, including Netanyahu, are openly deploying anti-Arab racism to appeal to Jewish voters.

Israel’s minority Arab population has long been marginalized in politics. But since October 7, they have been sidelined even more. At least two former Palestinian lawmakers and one current Knesset member were briefly arrested for comments or actions deemed critical of Israel’s genocide in Gaza and its occupation of the West Bank.

As parties consider possible paths to power, they are likely to have to compromise and break promises made to their supporters, analysts say.

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What happened during the elections?

A coalition of conservative and far-right Jewish parties led by Prime Minister Netanyahu’s Likud won 53 seats in the 120-seat Knesset, falling short of a majority.

The opposition bloc, led by former military leader Gadi Eisenkot of the Yashar party, won 48 seats – even further from the majority.

Meanwhile, the Joint List and Ra’am won more seats than ever after Arab voters doubled their turnout to around 80 percent. Raam, led by Mansour Abbas, won eight seats, while the Joint List, led by Yousef Jabareen, won 11.

Although the Arab bloc has been open to working with the opposition, speculation has swirled that Eisenkot would withhold support to avoid backlash from the wider Israeli Jewish public. Arabs make up a fifth of Israel’s population. Only one Arab party, Raam, managed to join a governing coalition – in 2021. That government lasted less than two years.

Eisenkot and other opposition leaders had earlier said they would not form a coalition with Arab parties to attract their supporters.

What does Netanyahu say?

Netanyahu has repeatedly and without evidence claimed that Arab parties committed electoral fraud with foreign support.

The prime minister and his Likud party cited a handful of cases, such as the arrest of three political activists who allegedly bribed voters before elections opened. They are suspected of having links with the Ra’am party, although this party denies any involvement.

Netanyahu’s case, however, appears to be weakening. On Sunday, an Israeli court released one of the suspects and another was placed under house arrest.

Israeli election officials also said the vote would not be compromised. Videos on Sunday showing Israel’s elections chief sitting with Israel’s attorney general and the head of the Shin Bet intelligence service appeared to send the message that the agencies are cooperating to ensure the vote stands.

“Our position is that even if the suspicions were founded, it would not undermine the integrity of the electoral process or the results of the elections as a whole,” Central Election Commission Chairman Noam Sohlberg said in the video.

Netanyahu and Likud also suggested that the opposition bloc’s embrace of Arab parties would be a betrayal. In a statement after the vote, Likud warned that Zionist parties cooperating with the Arab bloc would be “dangerous for Israel.”

Some Israelis agree. On Sunday evening, dozens of people gathered outside Eisenkot’s home to protest a possible alliance.

Will Arab parties support Eisenkot?

Yes. According to several media outlets, the Joint List and Raam have said they will work with the opposition bloc to oust Netanyahu, but not necessarily to form a government.

Abbas de Raam has long said he would join a possible Eisenkot government if his party gets the internal security portfolio. The fact that his deputy is a Jewish lawmaker is also seen as a signal to the opposition bloc.

The Joint List’s Jabareen, for his part, said in an interview with the Guardian on Monday that his party was ready to cooperate with the “Change” bloc to get rid of Netanyahu and other hardline members of the government, including National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.

He made it clear that the party did not intend to join an Eisenkot government but would vote with him in the Knesset. This would allow Eisenkot to form a “minority government” with fewer than 61 seats.

But it is not clear what Eisenkot and his partners will do. The opposition bloc had previously set conditions for any coalition with Arab parties, saying they must accept Israel as a Jewish state, support military conscription and denounce Hamas as a terrorist group.

“The conditions that (Eisenkot) is talking about are more relevant to the parties that would be part of the coalition. We are not considering being part of the coalition… for very clear reasons,” Jabareen told the Guardian, adding that “as long as the occupation of our people in the West Bank continues, we cannot be part of a government.”

What will happen next?

The election results will be certified on Wednesday.

Next, President Isaac Herzog will begin a meeting with the leaders of the 11 parties elected to Parliament to find out who they want as the next prime minister. The meeting at his residence will be broadcast live.

He will then choose the candidate he believes is most likely to form a coalition government. As leaders of the two main blocs, it will likely be Netanyahu or Eisenkot.

With Arab parties now expecting to nominate Eisenkot as their preferred partner, the opposition leader could be the favorite to get Herzog’s green light.

Eisenkot or Netanyahu will have 28 days to form a coalition. If that fails, the negotiation period can be extended for 14 days, after which Herzog could ask another candidate to try again.

Although the chances are slim, it is still possible that Netanyahu and the opposition bloc will begin negotiations and agree to form a unity government. Or Netanyahu could attempt to remove at least eight members of the opposition bloc.

Already, Yashar claimed in an X post on Saturday that several of his members had received calls from Likud, which, according to him, was in a state of “hysteria”.

Meanwhile, parliamentarians will be sworn in on November 10, regardless of coalition talks.