Eisenkot quickly targets Netanyahu's legacy in new Israeli parliament

Israel's new parliament was sworn in on Tuesday amid stormy scenes as outgoing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu clashed with the man who aims to be his successor. Gadi Eisenkot condemned Netanyahu's speech to the Knesset as a political hijacking and called for an investigation into the security failings in the run-up to the October 7, 2023 attacks. I spoke earlier to France 24's Noga Tarapolsky in Jerusalem. He did, but he did over, I would say, parliamentary procedure and the cancellation of an appointment we didn't know he had. It turned out that Eisenkot, Eisenkot's negotiation team to form a new coalition, had actually scheduled a meeting for today with a team from the prime minister's ruling Likud party. And that was cancelled very publicly and summarily. After the Prime Minister really, at what was supposed to have been a ceremonial toast, let loose an astonishing rant, I would have to say, not previously seen at such events, in which he attacked... Israeli-Arab politicians as a fifth column, as traitors, as terror supporters, and said that any government that relied on their support would itself be giving a hand to terror. So it was quite a speech. The other thing we saw, the maneuver we saw Eisenkot succeed in yesterday, was another one that the Likud tried mightily to avoid. They succeeded in scheduling a vote to replace the Knesset Speaker, the Parliament Speaker, who as of next week will be one that reflects not only Eisenkot's personal choice, but reflects the new majority in Parliament. Now, will Gadi Eisenkot be able to get the numbers necessary to form a government, considering there are parties in his bloc refusing any coalition with either of the two Arab lists? I'm not a prophet. But I think he is maneuvering behind the scenes. His The parties in his bloc, some of them are making kind of gruff noises, as you suggest. One party in particular, the most right-wing... opposition party led by Avigdor Lieberman, a former defense minister. we That said, Eisenkot keeps returning daily to his four principles, the four principles that he go. wants any party to accept if they want to join his coalition. And at least one, possibly two, of the Arab parties won't have much trouble conforming. to those, I would say, conditions, and as a result, it is possible to imagine Eisenkot saying, whenever he's ready, either about an ultra-Orthodox party, one that seems to have abandoned the prime minister or is considering abandoning the prime minister, or one of the Arab majority lists, saying, listen, these are my conditions, they accepted them. They're joining the government. So I think there's a lot of behind the scenes maneuvering. We're going to have to be a little bit patient to see.