26th Knesset Is Sworn In Tuesday; Speaker Vote Set for Nov. 17 After 67 MKs Demand Ohana's Replacement

Status: The 26th Knesset was sworn in Tuesday; a speaker has not been elected and no coalition has been formed. Speaker Amir Ohana has scheduled a plenum debate and vote on his replacement for Tuesday, Nov. 17, at 4 p.m. Israel time (8 a.m. CT), after 67 MKs submitted a formal request. Yashar has canceled a Wednesday negotiation meeting with Likud.

Update, Nov. 10, 5 p.m. CT: Channel 12 reporter Amit Segal reported that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met United Torah Judaism MK Yaakov Asher late Monday night at the Prime Minister's Office, Mako and JFeed report. Likud sources, according to that Channel 12 account, said they had persuaded the Haredi parties not to back a new government until a draft-exemption law is passed first. The Channel 12 report assessed that passing such a law before a government is formed would be difficult, citing limited time and legal opinions that, the report said, do not permit it.

JFeed reported a Shas statement saying that, on the instruction of the Council of Torah Sages, the party had recommended to the president that Netanyahu form the government after he committed to pass a law regulating the status of yeshiva students. "In light of this, Shas continues to support Netanyahu and is not conducting negotiations with any other party," the statement said, according to JFeed. JFeed also reported that Asher, in an interview with Kikar HaShabbat, set three conditions for joining any government: legal status for yeshiva students, independence for Haredi education, and preserving the religion-and-state status quo. "Without these conditions, we will not be partners. Period," Asher said, according to JFeed.

Separately, Channel 12's Yair Sharki reported that a two-stage plan is under discussion in which the Haredi parties would support an Eisenkot government from outside the coalition and formally join only after a draft law is passed, JFeed reported. That is a reported possibility, not a completed agreement. Change-bloc sources described the talks as "very advanced," JFeed reported; that is one side's characterization and has not been independently confirmed. Change-bloc sources, as reported by Channel 12 and JFeed, also accused Yisrael Beiteinu chairman Avigdor Liberman of "killing day by day" the option of relying on the Arab parties; that, too, is an attributed claim.

Update, Nov. 10, 3 p.m. CT: Yashar announced Tuesday that a negotiation meeting scheduled for Wednesday between the Eisenkot team and Likud had been canceled after Netanyahu's speech at the Knesset, the Jerusalem Post and the Times of Israel report.

"Following Yashar's appeal to all Knesset factions to conduct sincere and genuine negotiations based on the four principles set out by Yashar for forming a government, a negotiation meeting was scheduled for tomorrow between the Eisenkot team and Likud," the party's statement said, according to the Jerusalem Post. "Against the backdrop of the outgoing prime minister's divisive speech and his disgraceful conduct at the Knesset swearing-in ceremony, which dishonored what remains of statesmanship under Netanyahu's rule, Yashar chairman Gadi Eisenkot has now instructed that the negotiation meeting planned for tomorrow with Likud representatives be canceled."

The Times of Israel quoted the same statement as saying: "In light of the divisive speech delivered by the outgoing prime minister, the desecration of the Knesset swearing-in ceremony, and with it what remains of statesmanship under Netanyahu's rule, Yashar chair Gadi Eisenkot instructed that the negotiations scheduled for tomorrow with Likud representatives be cancelled." The statement continued, the Times of Israel reported: "Unity is an important value for Israel, and Israeli solidarity is a component of Israel's national security, and we will continue to act in their interest." "Netanyahu does not want unity. As always, when faced with the gravity of the hour and the resilience of Israeli society and his political survival, Netanyahu always chooses himself. No matter the cost." The Jerusalem Post carried a closely worded version of that last passage, including the line that Netanyahu "will always choose himself. At any cost."

Likud responded, the Jerusalem Post reported, that Netanyahu will "turn over every stone to achieve national unity" and that "Likud is willing to meet with representatives of any faction that desires unity." The party called it "puzzling" that the Eisenkot-led parties canceled a scheduled meeting with Likud while continuing to advance negotiations with Arab parties, which, Likud said, walked out during the national anthem after the swearing-in. The Times of Israel reported that Likud also said Netanyahu stands by his earlier comments opposing cooperation with "supporters of terror" and those "who only tonight abandoned the Knesset plenum when the national anthem was being sung," and that he continues to work for a "national unity government."

Update, Nov. 10, 1 p.m. CT: Ynet, the Times of Israel, the Jerusalem Post, and Haaretz report that Ohana has set a date for the speaker vote. The Times of Israel quoted him saying, "This evening I received an unusual request from 67 members of the Knesset to place a vote to elect the speaker of the 26th Knesset on the agenda." "As such, I have scheduled a debate, followed by a vote, for Tuesday, November 17, at 4 p.m., at the start of the Knesset plenum," he said, according to the Times of Israel. That is 8 a.m. Central Time. Ynet similarly reported that he scheduled the debate and vote for next Tuesday at 4 p.m., when the plenary convenes, and said he chose the latest date allowed under the parliamentary practice governing such a request. The vote therefore comes a week out.

Ohana opposes the move but said he will respect the majority. "Despite my strong opposition to the intentions of the emerging coalition, I will act as I promised and respect the will of the majority of Knesset members," he said, Ynet reported. The Times of Israel quoted him saying that despite his "strong opposition" to the Eisenkot-led bloc's agenda, "I will act as promised: I will respect the will of the majority of Knesset members." The Jerusalem Post likewise reported that he set the plenum vote for next Tuesday "despite his strong opposition to the intentions of the emerging coalition."

The Eisenkot-led bloc has nominated former minister Matan Kahana of Yashar as its candidate for speaker, Ynet, the Jerusalem Post, and Haaretz report. Earlier Tuesday accounts had described the request as carrying more than 61 signatures; Ohana's statement, as reported by Ynet and the Times of Israel, put the number at 67.

In a separate Ynet report, during the uproar that erupted at Netanyahu's speech, his wife Sara Netanyahu "was seen confronting" Beyachad chairman Naftali Bennett. The Jerusalem Post reported that Bennett's interruption "drew an inaudible response from Netanyahu's wife, Sara, and son, Yair, who were in attendance."

Update, Nov. 10, 11 a.m. CT: The 26th Knesset was sworn in Tuesday, Ynet and the Jerusalem Post report. Shortly afterward, at the traditional faction leaders' photo event in the Knesset's Chagall Hall, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called for a "national unity government," warned of international pressure over Iran, and attacked the prospect of a coalition involving Arab parties, Ynet and the Jerusalem Post report.

Netanyahu said "Iran is working to renew the nuclear threat" and that "the only way to permanently remove an existential threat is to bring down the ayatollah regime," Ynet reported. (The Post quoted him saying the only way "is through the downfall of the Ayatollah regime.") He said Israel would soon face international pressure "to accept a nuclear Iran and the continued existence of the regime of terror that seeks to destroy us," Ynet reported, as well as pressure to retreat from what he described as Israel's major achievements and its security zones. "In the face of these threats, we must do one thing in this house: put every other consideration aside and establish a national unity government," he said, according to Ynet. "Only such a government will be able to confront challenges of this magnitude."

Turning to the change bloc, Netanyahu said, "You who want to form a government with supporters of terrorism do not understand what they really want to achieve," Ynet reported. Naftali Bennett interrupted him, shouting, "What about your Qatari advisers? What about the October 7 investigation?" Ynet reported. Democrats chairman Yair Golan walked out in protest, Ynet said.

Gadi Eisenkot, in a Jerusalem Post live update, described the speech as "delusional, divisive, hate-filled, and disgraceful" and accused Netanyahu of exploiting the state ceremony. "I became even more convinced that he is unfit to remain in office for even one more minute," Eisenkot said, according to the Post. "We must act urgently to establish a national emergency government. His continued rule divides Israel and endangers its security." Ynet, in a Hebrew report, similarly quoted him calling the speech delusional, divisive, full of hate, and shameful, and saying Netanyahu is unfit to continue even one more minute.

During the swearing-in, Ynet reported, the chamber rose and applauded Likud MK Elisha Madan, who lost both legs in the war, as he stood to take the oath of office. At the end of the ceremony, several Arab lawmakers left the chamber during the national anthem, while Ra'am chairman Mansour Abbas remained standing alongside United Torah Judaism MK Yaakov Asher. Neither joined in singing the anthem, Ynet reported. The Jerusalem Post reported that members of the Joint List were seen leaving before the conclusion of Hatikvah.

Update, Tuesday afternoon: Ynet and the Jerusalem Post report that the Yashar party has submitted more than 61 signatures from members of the 26th Knesset to Speaker Amir Ohana, demanding his replacement and a plenum vote to elect a new speaker. Matan Kahana was formally named as the candidate in that request. Those earlier reports described the request before Ohana had announced a date; he later scheduled the vote for Nov. 17, as reported in the 1 p.m. CT update. The Post also reported that Ohana had said last week he would not hold the vote on the inaugural day and would instead schedule it for the following week if a formal request with sufficient support was submitted.

Naftali Bennett, at the start of his faction meeting in the Knesset, said the opposition bloc has "received the tools necessary to form a good government in Israel," the Jerusalem Post reported. "But there is no time. Even at this very moment, our reservists along all of the country's borders are crying out for a change of leadership under the stretcher." Bennett said he was "doing everything possible to help Eisenkot form a Zionist government of reform as quickly as possible, so that we can bring about the 'servants' revolution' and begin repairing the State of Israel."

Reported — Ra'am and Hamas: Ynet, citing sources involved in the talks, reports that Ra'am leader Mansour Abbas has expressed agreement in principle to formally recognize Hamas as a terrorist organization — the fourth condition Gadi Eisenkot has set for prospective coalition partners — in return for a genuine political partnership. In a follow-up, Ynet reported that at his Knesset faction meeting Abbas did not deny the report. He said: "We aspire to be part of the next coalition and the next government. Those who will benefit from this are Jewish and Arab citizens. We will extend a hand to the partnership that Gadi Eisenkot will lead." No coalition has been formed.

The 26th Knesset was sworn in Tuesday in Jerusalem. Earlier reports had listed formal proceedings from 3:20 p.m. and the swearing-in at 4 p.m. Israel time, Ynet reported; a later Ynet account described the ceremony as it took place. Ynet says the new Knesset includes 46 first-time members and a record 33 women. For Benjamin Netanyahu, it is a 15th Knesset.

The mandate math

President Isaac Herzog assigned the first mandate to form a government to Gadi Eisenkot after Eisenkot received 67 MK recommendations and Netanyahu received 46, the BBC reports. That recommendation count is not the same as a governing majority. Eisenkot's four-party bloc holds 48 seats; Netanyahu's bloc holds 53. Reaching 61 still requires additional partners.

Background: Eisenkot Gets Mandate, Agrees With Liberman on Next Knesset Speaker.

Kahana for speaker

Yashar has proposed Matan Kahana to replace Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana, Ynet and the Jerusalem Post report. As reported above, Yashar submitted that request with more than 61 signatures, and Ohana later said 67 MKs had signed. He has scheduled the debate and vote for Tuesday, Nov. 17, at 4 p.m. Israel time (8 a.m. CT). That vote is the first test of whether Eisenkot can assemble a working majority.

Tibi, Golan, and Abbas

Joint List leader Ahmad Tibi told Kan, as reported by the Times of Israel, that "The first crucial step signaling change is the replacement of the Knesset speaker." Tibi said: "The Yashar party informed us that it would be Matan Kahana. I congratulate him, and we will vote for him because we want to be part of the change."

Yair Golan, in remarks reported by the Times of Israel, said: "I call on all my colleagues in the change bloc — let's form a government quickly. Do not rule out the Arab parties, and do not rule out the Arab public." He added: "Anyone who can treat our wounded sons and save their lives deserves, has the right and is capable of sitting alongside us in the Israeli government."

Ra'am leader Mansour Abbas, speaking to N12/Mako, said, "We aspire to be part of the next gov't."

Liberman on Haredi talks

The Jerusalem Post, in a Nov. 10 live update, reports that Avigdor Liberman denied leading talks with Haredi parties and said Eisenkot is in charge of forming the government.

Related

• Eisenkot Gets Mandate, Agrees With Liberman on Next Knesset Speaker
• Israel Briefing: Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2026