Israel’s Coalition Bargain Makes Service the Price

Gadi Eisenkot said Friday that all Israelis should perform mandatory military or civilian service, naming the demand as one of four principles for any party or lawmaker seeking a place in a national emergency government under his leadership. He said the aim is “to strengthen the IDF and expand its ranks.” His coalition offer comes as Avigdor Liberman signals flexibility on conscription to help replace Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and avoid another election.

Service as a condition of power

Eisenkot said he would approach every parliamentary faction and invite its members to join if they accepted his principles. The service demand goes beyond a line in a draft-law debate: under his proposal, it would be a condition of joining the government. He said the obligation covered military, national and civilian service, and applied to all Israelis.

“Under my leadership. Now, or later,” Eisenkot wrote in a statement ahead of Shabbat. He said he planned to form a government as quickly as possible around the four Zionist parties in his bloc, with other parties and individual lawmakers able to join immediately or later. The offer sets the terms. Factions and lawmakers must decide whether to accept them.

Liberman, the Yisrael Beiteinu leader, proposed a different path to coalition agreement. He said he was ready to compromise on the conscription law to replace Netanyahu and avoid another election, while keeping his opposition to a government dependent on Arab parties. “On all other issues, flexibility and compromise are permissible and desirable,” he wrote. “That includes the conscription law.”

A government assembled around conditions

Yaakov Asher, leader of ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism (UTJ), welcomed Liberman’s flexibility but said his party hadn’t received a concrete partnership proposal. He said UTJ’s spiritual leaders would consider any offer. The parties are negotiating over who can join and what terms they must accept, while service remains a bargaining point.

Eisenkot’s other conditions are recognition of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state; acceptance of the values of its Declaration of Independence; and recognition of Hamas as a terrorist organization, alongside a commitment to dismantle its military capabilities and rule. He said he planned to form a government around the four Zionist parties in his bloc, while inviting other parties and individual lawmakers to sign on.

Eisenkot reported significant progress and breakthroughs in negotiations, including meetings that hadn’t been made public and others held in recent hours. He said he hoped to receive the presidential mandate to form a government early next week.

Emergency language, coalition arithmetic

Eisenkot described Israel as facing a dangerous emergency and accused the outgoing government of threatening democracy while active war fronts remained subject to political and personal considerations. He called replacing Netanyahu and preventing another election urgent national priorities, and warned against efforts to derail coalition negotiations for personal reasons.

“Anyone who tries to stall and thwart the formation of the government for personal rather than substantive reasons will go down in history as someone who failed to rise to the occasion and failed to act to save Israel in an emergency,” he wrote. “They will not be forgiven.” The appeal is framed as an emergency, but negotiations still turn on party conditions, disputed rules for service and the allocation of political power. Liberman says the conscription law is negotiable. Eisenkot says mandatory service for all belongs among the terms of government.