Gadi Eisenkot’s Yashar party is developing a plan aimed at preventing defections from its Knesset faction if the post-election political landscape leads Eisenkot to attempt forming a minority government dependent on Arab parties abstaining.

According to a report by Amit Segal on Israel’s Channel 12, Eisenkot’s party is concerned about a repeat of the political turmoil that plagued Naftali Bennett’s government, when defections ultimately helped bring down the coalition.

Under the emerging plan, candidates would commit to an internal ethical code requiring them to follow party discipline. If an MK concludes that he or she cannot support the party’s position because of personal convictions, that MK would be expected to resign from the Knesset rather than remain and vote against the faction.

Eisenkot has reportedly told prospective candidates that he expects them to follow his own example. When he previously found himself unable to support decisions made by his political party, Eisenkot noted, he returned his mandate and resigned from the Knesset.

The issue could become particularly significant if the anti-Netanyahu bloc fails to secure 61 seats.

Eisenkot has told candidates that in such a scenario, he intends to pursue what has become known as the “Eisenkot framework” — the establishment of a Zionist minority government that could take office with Arab parties abstaining, but without conducting coalition negotiations with those parties.

Party officials had previously considered going even further by requiring candidates to sign a document pledging that they would “not be Silman” — a reference to former Yamina MK Idit Silman, whose departure from Bennett’s coalition cost it its parliamentary majority.

That proposal was ultimately dropped, but concerns remain within Eisenkot’s camp about whether several candidates would remain with the party if it sought to establish a government through Arab-party abstentions.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)