Eisenkot calls Netanyahu's unity government call 'yet another spin move'

Israeli opposition leader and prime ministerial hopeful Gadi Eisenkot has accused Benjamin Netanyahu of resorting to political tricks to delay the formation of a new government, saying his latest call for negotiations was "yet another spin move". In a post on X, Eisenkot said Netanyahu knew that a meeting between the negotiating teams of Likud and Yesh Atid had already been scheduled for Monday. "This is the latest bluff: Netanyahu calls for negotiations after they have already been scheduled, claims he wants unity, but disgraces a state ceremony in the Knesset and divides and incites as if there were no tomorrow," Eisenkot wrote. The remarks come after an inconclusive election left the Knesset without a clear governing majority, with rival political camps seeking to assemble the numbers needed to form the next government. Eisenkot said Netanyahu knew he had lost the election and that there was "an overwhelming majority against him among the citizens of Israel and in the Knesset". He accused the outgoing prime minister of mounting "a delaying action" to make it difficult to form a new government and prevent the replacement of the Knesset speaker. Eisenkot reiterated that the conditions for joining an emergency government under his leadership included acceptance of the principles he had outlined and "a break with the extremists".