The Israeli Arab opposition "Ream" is ready to give Eisenkot a chance to oust Netanyahu from the Palestinian and Bedouin Ra'am party, which won eight seats in the parliamentary elections in Israel last week, announced that it will recommend opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot as a candidate to form the next government. Ream's support will increase Eisenkot's coalition to 56 seats, five less than the 61 seats needed to form a governing coalition. However, MP Ofer Kassif told Anadolu Agency that the Joint List, Israel's other Arab opposition force, will also "probably" recommend Eisenkot. Having both forces in his camp would give the Eisenkot bloc a comfortable majority of 67 seats. However, some of his allies, including Avigdor Lieberman and his Israel Beitnou party, which holds seven seats in parliament, vowed to reject any coalition agreement of Arab parties (Lieberman, a former ally of Netanyahu, also rejected any agreement with Likud). Eisenkot conditioned his cooperation with Ream on a willingness to support mandatory national service and an explicit recognition of Israel as a "Jewish state". A concept that Ra'am has traditionally rejected because it reduces more than 20% of the population to second-class citizens. However, in recent years some party members have offered "pragmatic" concessions (de facto acceptance) in exchange for compromise in other areas. While Israelis see Eisenkot as a center-right, "pragmatic" alternative to Netanyahu, he shares many of the current prime minister's tough security views, including the need to "destroy" Hamas, "disarm" Hezbollah and maintain a tough stance toward Iran.

The Israeli Arab opposition "Ream" is ready to give Eisenkot a chance to oust Netanyahu from the Palestinian and Bedouin Ra'am party, which won eight seats in the parliamentary elections in Israel last week, announced that it will recommend opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot as a candidate to form the next government. Ream's support will increase Eisenkot's coalition to 56 seats, five less than the 61 seats needed to form a governing coalition. However, MP Ofer Kassif told Anadolu Agency that the Joint List, Israel's other Arab opposition force, will also "probably" recommend Eisenkot. Having both forces in his camp would give the Eisenkot bloc a comfortable majority of 67 seats. However, some of his allies, including Avigdor Lieberman and his Israel Beitnou party, which holds seven seats in parliament, vowed to reject any coalition agreement of Arab parties (Lieberman, a former ally of Netanyahu, also rejected any agreement with Likud). Eisenkot conditioned his cooperation with Ream on a willingness to support mandatory national service and an explicit recognition of Israel as a "Jewish state". A concept that Ra'am has traditionally rejected because it reduces more than 20% of the population to second-class citizens. However, in recent years some party members have offered "pragmatic" concessions (de facto acceptance) in exchange for compromise in other areas. While Israelis see Eisenkot as a center-right, "pragmatic" alternative to Netanyahu, he shares many of the current prime minister's tough security views, including the need to "destroy" Hamas, "disarm" Hezbollah and maintain a tough stance toward Iran.