Eisenkot Cancels Planned Coalition Meeting With Likud After Netanyahu Speech

Gadi Eisenkot's Yashar party canceled a coalition-negotiating meeting with Likud that had been planned for Wednesday, following Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's address at the opening of the 26th Knesset.

The meeting had been arranged after Yashar invited Knesset factions to discuss forming a government on the basis of four principles. Eisenkot's party criticized Netanyahu's speech and said it was calling off the planned talks.

Netanyahu used his address to call for a national unity government, citing Israel's security challenges. He also opposed forming a narrow government dependent on Arab parties that he described as supporters of terrorism.

Likud said it remained prepared to meet representatives of any faction seeking unity and that Netanyahu would continue working toward a national unity government. The party criticized Yashar for canceling its meeting with Likud while pursuing other coalition contacts.

Eisenkot is trying to form Israel's next government after receiving the mandate from President Isaac Herzog. The canceled meeting does not by itself settle the outcome of those negotiations.