Eisenkot must seize the mandate and form a government without Netanyahu - opinion

If the measure is supported by Zionist voter parties, then you lead Netanyahu 48-40.

If the measure is supported by parties that accept Israel as a Jewish state, then you lead (Zionist plus Ra’am) 56-53.

If the measure is supported by parties cleared to compete in a democratic election, you lead 67-53.

The one metric by which you don’t come out ahead of Netanyahu is support by Jewish parties exclusively when Arab parties’ mandates are not counted. But this metric, proposed by Netanyahu, is discriminatory and violates democratic norms.

Then how do you form a government? You will not get enough solid MK support by inviting individual members to subscribe to your principles and join your coalition. You need a two-step group process.

Step 1: You take in Ra’am with eight mandates to join your governing group. On the grounds that Ra’am has accepted that Israel is a Jewish state, has rejected the use of terror, and only asks that Israel be a democratic state that treats all its communities equally. Therefore, they are qualified to join in guiding and governing the State of Israel. That brings you to 56 mandates.

Then turn to the Joint List and ask them to support your minority government from outside. In return, you will enact legislation whereby the government of Israel will invest in upgrading the Arab community. This program is needed for a fully democratic Israel.

It was adopted by the Netanyahu government but was not fulfilled due to the extremists in that government and was later cut. You will restore the program, carry it out, and commit to bringing the Arab communities to full equality in law and government practice in the future.

You are being told that Jewish voters are not ready to accept a government upheld by Arab party mandates. But this is what leadership is all about. You must explain to the Jewish voters that it is right to take qualified Arab parties into government. This was the original Zionist vision. This risky positive stand will change the Jewish voters’ understanding – but only after it is taken.

This electoral stalemate was not desired. Turn to all the citizens of Israel and declare: I want to turn this deadlock into a moment of blessing by reaffirming Israel’s Declaration of Independence and renewing its offer to the Arab inhabitants. The process of restoring national unity can start by integrating the patriotic Arab community into national political life.

I repeat the Declaration of Independence word for word. “The State of Israel… will be based on freedom, justice and peace as envisaged by the prophets of Israel; it will ensure complete equality of social and political rights to all its citizens, irrespective of religion, race or sex…”

“We appeal – in the very midst of the onslaught launched against us… to the Arab inhabitants of the State of Israel to preserve peace and participate in the upbuilding of the State of Israel on the basis of full and equal citizenship and in representation in all its provisional and permanent institutions…”

I do not invite the Joint List to join in a governing coalition because many of its leaders have not embraced the terms of accepting Israel as a Jewish state, turning your back on terror and working to win full equality for all Israel’s citizens.

But I invite you to take advantage of this moment and rethink your approach. Turn away from hostility to the Jewish state. Join in the renewal of the State of Israel’s national covenant between all its communities.

To all the citizens of Israel: I will lead a minority government as a temporary measure only. The government will pass three fundamental bills. The first is establishing a state commission of inquiry to investigate and fully analyze the events of October 7 and recommend policies to avoid a repetition. The second is a draft law that will require IDF service or National Service for all the citizens of Israel, including haredim (ultra-Orthodox) and Arabs.

I propose that 3% of the draftable cohort be exempt to pursue advanced Torah studies to provide the needed great scholars of Torah for the next generation. This is comparable to the present exemption of star athletes, musicians, and artists to assure the future of those fields. The law will include ending subsidies for all who do not serve.

The third law will be the reenactment of special investment in the Arab community toward bringing its infrastructure, education, and economy up to the level of the Jewish Israeli community.

We will also end the assault on the judiciary and the politicization of the judicial selection process. After that, I will take steps to end a minority government.

Lieberman is not a bigot. He has a valid point that constituents of the Joint List have rejected Israel as a Jewish state and have not rejected the practitioners of terror. That is why I do not invite them in to form a majority governing coalition.

However, this is a moment when a new government is being born, and a new spirit of solidarity, participation and responsibility is opening up in the Arab community. I invite Liberman to join me in making this growth possible.

I will give him a special role in supervising this development. He can make sure that change is genuine, and the welcoming policy is not a naive idealism that weakens Israel’s security.

I will appoint Liberman to serve as alternate prime minister. This is not a rotation. This is the role that Benny Gantz took when he joined the Netanyahu government (but was misled and betrayed). This means that Liberman fills in when the prime minister is away; that he will sit at the table making all the big decisions facing the State of Israel.

He can ensure that full integration of the Arab parties does not take place until there has been a genuine turn to a full embrace of a Jewish and democratic State of Israel. He can play a major role in our further policies to overcome polarization between the Right and Left in Israel.

What will we do to advance national unity – if we do not accept Netanyahu as prime minister as part of a national unity government? We pledge to pursue the destruction of Iran’s nuclear capability in partnership with the United States up to the point of going to war again if that is what it will take to end this existential threat to our country.

This government of change will invest to bring the periphery up to the level of the center. Our ministers and professionals will be people who honor all branches of the people of Israel. There will be no regression to diminishing or degrading the Sephardi citizens of Israel. I am privileged to be a descendant of a Moroccan Jewish family, proud of its heritage, who embraces all the tribes of Israel.

Citizens of Israel. We have gone through years of shock and depression after the October 7 massacre. We have suffered the loss of an additional 974 precious lives in the defense of our country.

To turn from gloom to hope, from frustration to growth, we should commit to achieving a higher level of economic dignity and political participation, to fuller freedom of religion and solidarity between all sectors of Israel. We dare not go back to a government of polarization and business as usual.

In the darkest moments of our history, the Jewish people chose life, to live at a higher level and renew the covenant of Israel. Join with me to create a more competent government, dedicated to the welfare of all. Together we can bring on a new age of renaissance and flourishing for our people and all the citizens of Israel. A unified Israel can again serve as “a light unto all the nations.”