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Elbaz predicts unity government with Netanyahu, not a premiership rotation

The strategic consultant argues that another election would strengthen the right, while predicting Eisenkot could receive the first chance to form a government.

Channel: C14 Hebrew channel ·

IsraelStory of October 30, 2026Trari Newsroom

Why this story? One of C14's most watched videos since yesterday, with 65,830 views.

C14: Israel's Channel 14, a news channel on the political right, on air since 2014 (as Channel 20 until 2021). 495K subscribers and 738M views.

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Things we can learn from the video

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0:12Elbaz argues Netanyahu enters coalition negotiations from a position of strength despite his bloc's majority shortfall.
1:10Menashe asks whether opposition parties could change legislation or replace the parliamentary speaker with Arab parties' support.
3:13Elbaz argues that relying on Arab parties would carry severe political costs for Bennett and Lieberman.
4:16Elbaz identifies a unity government bringing Eisenkot together with Netanyahu as his likeliest scenario.
5:20He rejects a rotating premiership, citing the gap between the parties' sizes.
6:01Elbaz predicts Eisenkot could receive the first government-forming mandate but would fail to assemble a coalition.

A unity government bringing Gadi Eisenkot together with Benjamin Netanyahu is the likeliest outcome of Israel's election impasse, strategic consultant Shalom Elbaz argues, but he dismisses the possibility of them taking turns as prime minister.

Speaking to host Oded Menashe on Israel's Channel 14 (C14), Elbaz presents a confident interpretation of a result that has left Netanyahu's right-wing bloc short of a governing majority. He says Netanyahu enters negotiations from a position of strength, despite lacking the seats needed to govern with his existing partners.

Menashe tests a different route: could the opposition bloc use Arab parties' support to pass legislation or replace the parliamentary speaker? Elbaz argues that former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Avigdor Lieberman would face severe political costs for relying on Ra'am and the Joint List, an alliance of Arab-majority parties.

Bennett previously led a coalition that included Ra'am in 2021. Elbaz's contention is that he would not repeat that arrangement, not that such cooperation is procedurally impossible.

The interview reaches Elbaz's preferred scenario just over four minutes in: Eisenkot joining Netanyahu in a unity government. Eisenkot, a former military chief and Netanyahu's main election challenger, might nevertheless get the first presidential mandate to attempt to assemble a coalition, Elbaz predicts, because Arab parties could recommend him. He then predicts that attempt would fail.

Asked about a rotating premiership, Elbaz rejects it on the grounds of the gap between the parties' sizes. His proposed unity arrangement therefore does not entail an equal division of the top job.

The upload's description adds the argument behind its repeat-election headline: Elbaz expects the right to gain seats in another vote through fewer ballots going to unsuccessful parties and more effective surplus-vote agreements. That is his forecast, not an announced election or an agreed coalition deal.