Avigdor Liberman has spent years as one of the loudest opponents of charedi draft exemptions. His willingness to explore cooperation with the charedi parties has therefore drawn considerable attention in the coalition negotiations.
His seven Knesset seats could prove valuable to Eisenkot’s effort to replace Netanyahu. But the math is delicate: Liberman’s secular, nationalist voters expect him to hold the line on exemptions, while the charedi parties cannot easily join a government without an answer on the issue.
It also raises a larger question about the prospective government. Is the opposition united by a shared vision for Israel, or only by a shared desire to end Netanyahu’s dominance? Removing a prime minister is one task. Agreeing on military policy, religion and state, judicial reform and the economy is another.
Liberman’s maneuvering gives Eisenkot another route to a majority, and shows how many compromises it would take to hold such a coalition together. Old alliances may be rearranging: the charedi parties could find themselves negotiating with some of their sharpest critics, while longtime Netanyahu allies weigh alternative partners.