Israeli caretaker prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu renewed his appeal on Saturday for a national unity government with Gadi Eisenkot, the rival now negotiating a coalition of his own, and was dismissed within minutes as a man playing political tricks.
Netanyahu said a meeting with Eisenkot on Thursday had "only strengthened the conviction that it is essential to form a national unity government" to guarantee Israel's security, according to France 24. Such an administration, he added, could "eliminate the Iranian threat once and for all".
He claimed Iran "would not hesitate to use nuclear weapons against us" and said the cabinet should be built from parties that accept Israel "as a state for the Jewish people".
His alternative, he argued, was a "weak and dangerous" minority administration. Under Eisenkot's plan, the 48 lawmakers in his bloc would back the government while the 46 who support Netanyahu vote against. Twenty-six members from Arab and ultra-Orthodox parties would abstain. That would let it take office in the 120-seat Knesset without an absolute majority, France 24 reported.
Eisenkot was tasked with forming a government on Sunday and has 28 days to do so, with a possible 14-day extension, Al-Monitor reported. Arab-majority and other parties gave him 67 endorsements this month, and the new Knesset convened on 10 November.
"Instead of trying to form a weak and dangerous government ... let's meet in one room, without preconditions, put aside all our disagreements and all the boycotts, and reach agreements for the security and the future of the state," Netanyahu said in a video statement.
Eisenkot replied that Netanyahu "knows he lost the election" and accused him of "calling for negotiations while they are already underway". The former army chief said his rival "claims to want unity but ... sows division and stokes tensions as if there were no tomorrow". He then added: "These tricks don't work on me."
Eisenkot has said he would sit with members of Netanyahu's Likud and with Bezalel Smotrich's Religious Zionism if their commitment to unity is "sincere". A partnership with Netanyahu himself looks remote after Eisenkot described the outgoing premier's campaign against Arab parties as "racist" on Friday. He also demanded a "break with the extremists", naming supporters of Itamar Ben Gvir.
Lawmakers are due to elect a Knesset speaker on Tuesday. Amir Ohana, a Netanyahu ally, holds the post, and the opposition has nominated Matan Kahana, who was fifth on Eisenkot's list. Likud and its partners should "allow the democratic process to unfold normally" and instruct their members to back Kahana if they want a genuine partnership, Eisenkot said.