Israel Politics

According to a source familiar with the negotiations, Netanyahu is personally speaking with rabbis, sending emissaries to the haredi leadership, and attempting to reach rabbis outside senior leaders.

Deri stressed to those attending that he was not interested in reports that sugarcoat reality or attempts to downplay the scale of the defeat, instead asking for harsh, pointed conclusions.

"There is a fundamental difference between the approaches of the different leaderships, between the Ashkenazi ultra-Orthodox leadership and the Sephardi ultra-Orthodox leadership," he said.

Abbas reportedly suggested that joint talks could give legitimacy to a more lenient arrangement on the issue across the political spectrum, while also positioning UTJ as a potential "kingmaker."

The meeting came a day after Eisenkot asked A-G Gali Baharav-Miara to intervene, saying Netanyahu had denied him the briefings while the government serves in a caretaker capacity.

Medan was seriously wounded during the Israel-Hamas War, losing both legs in an explosion in northern Gaza that killed four other reservists in the early stages of the war.

Just two days earlier, at her son's swearing-in ceremony at the Knesset, Peretz had struck a different tone, emphasizing the importance of unity and working on behalf of all Israeli citizens.

Yashar MK Shaul Meridor said haredi parties could join an Eisenkot-led emergency government if they accept four principles, including universal service and recognition of Hamas as a terrorist group.

Yashar party leader MK Gadi Eisenkot is set to receive a diplomatic and security briefing from Netanyahu and his military secretary at the Prime Minister's Office on Thursday.

As Eisenkot works to form a government, Netanyahu retains the power to act against Iran. But Israeli law raises questions about launching a new war under a caretaker government.