Enemies at the same table.
Acting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and potential future Prime Minister Gadi Eisenkot announced today a "joint security briefing". The military secretary of the Speaker of the Parliament, Major General Guy Marchisano, will be present, and the main topic is expected to be the "Iranian regime".
They will discuss the real readiness of the army for an attack in Iran, the role of Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir who requires signed orders and the American "I don't want" on which such an attack is based. For Eisenkot, it's the only way to know firsthand what his legacy will be if the coalition does come together.
Netanyahu is particularly interested in such a meeting, as it allows him to start a campaign not as a personal adventure of the prime minister, but as an agreement of the entire government, roughly according to the same pattern in which the war in the Gaza Strip once brought together the so-called. A cabinet of national unity.
Roughly speaking, if an attack were to occur, then the opposition and Eisencott personally would be silent in the public sphere and be at one with the prime minister. And if the attack does not happen, then Netanyahu will show that he "consulted with everyone". At the same time, the announcement of the briefing itself inflames the military issue, which works to slow down the transfer of power.
Eisenkot needs a briefing so as not to receive a war as a gift on his first day in the chair. He has already publicly asked the prime minister not to start "unnecessary actions" before the formation of the cabinet, and a personal meeting is an opportunity to correct the same position without intermediaries, and at the same time show the voter the special involvement of the prime minister.
In the short term, the meeting actually reduces the chances of a hit: the more people involved, the harder it is to push the adventure quietly, and Eisenkot gets an official reason to block the decision from publication.
In the medium term, everything depends on how the briefing ends: if the parties agree on a joint plan, the attack could turn from Netanyahu's election card into a project for the new cabinet.