Two Arab parties back Gadi Eisenkot for Israeli PM, with a catch

Summary

The Joint List and Ra'am, two Arab-majority parties in Israel, have backed opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot to form a government against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Al Jazeera reports. NDTV reports that the backing comes with a catch. Netanyahu's bloc has 53 seats in the new parliament, compared with 48 for Eisenkot's bloc.

Timeline

1. NDTV

   6 Nov 2026, 05:22 UTCSource ↗

   NDTV reports that two Arab parties back Gadi Eisenkot for Israel's prime minister, but there is a catch, and that Netanyahu's bloc has 53 seats in the new parliament compared with 48 for Eisenkot's bloc.

2. Al Jazeera

   6 Nov 2026, 16:21 UTCSource ↗

   Al Jazeera reports that Arab-majority parties in Israel, the Joint List and Ra'am, have backed Netanyahu's rival Gadi Eisenkot to form a government.