Lieberman confirms he will compromise on haredi draft to build a 61-seat anti-Netanyahu government

A potential draft-law compromise could open a new route to an Eisenkot-led government. But no coalition deal has been announced, and Lieberman's party disputes the reported change.

Avigdor Lieberman has reportedly lifted his veto on governing with Israel's ultra-Orthodox parties, opening a potentially decisive new route for Gadi Eisenkot's Change Bloc to try to replace Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu through an agreement with United Torah Judaism and a compromise military-conscription law.

Channel 12 political correspondent Amit Segal broke the report on X at 12:54 PM ET on Thursday, November 5, saying the Change Bloc was moving toward a government that includes UTJ on the basis of a more lenient draft law. In a follow-up at 1:42 PM ET, he said Lieberman had authorized his partners to negotiate with the Haredi parties.

The report comes as UTJ, a longtime Netanyahu ally, declined to recommend any candidate for prime minister during consultations with President Isaac Herzog. That is a significant withholding of support from Netanyahu — but it is not an announcement that UTJ has joined Eisenkot, signed a coalition agreement or endorsed him for prime minister.

According to Segal, the proposed basis for negotiations is the conscription framework Lieberman advanced as defense minister in 2018. Segal described it as more lenient than the subsequent proposal associated with Boaz Bismuth: financial sanctions on yeshivas would begin only after three years, with no personal sanctions on students. The draft dispute has long divided Lieberman and the Haredi parties. A compromise could remove one of the largest barriers to cooperation between the secular opposition and UTJ. However, a negotiating framework is not an enacted law, and the parties have not announced an agreed text.

There is also an important dispute over the central report. The Jerusalem Post says Yisrael Beytenu denied a change in position, telling the newspaper: "We are not aware of any such thing. Nothing has changed since the briefing was given." The paper noted that Lieberman had already indicated some conditional openness to Haredi partners who accepted his principles and a conscription law. Segal's report therefore should not be presented as an uncontested official party announcement.

At the end of Herzog's consultations, parties representing 67 lawmakers recommended Eisenkot, compared with 46 for Netanyahu. UTJ's seven lawmakers recommended neither. Segal reported the final tally at 3:09 PM ET, and Ynet separately reported the same figures.

Recommendations are not the same thing as a functioning coalition. Eisenkot's 67 includes Arab-led parties, while Lieberman opposes relying on those parties to sustain a government. Herzog said the apparent result still left uncertainty about who could actually assemble a government because of mutual party vetoes; he plans to announce his decision on Sunday, November 8.

The alternative described by Segal would combine the Change Bloc's 48 seats with 13 seats belonging to UTJ and Shas, reaching the 61-seat majority in the 120-member Knesset. UTJ alone would bring that combination to 55 — not a majority. Shas's participation would therefore be essential to that particular route, and it has not been secured. Shas recommended Netanyahu, and its leader Aryeh Deri remains aligned with him, according to the reports.

Segal also raised a possible prime-ministerial rotation between Eisenkot and Lieberman. He explicitly presented that as his assessment of what might happen if such a government forms, not as a signed agreement.

Taken together, UTJ's refusal to endorse Netanyahu, Eisenkot's recommendation lead and the reported opening to a Haredi draft compromise create a serious challenge to Netanyahu's efforts to remain in power. They offer his opponents a possible route around the divisions that have kept them from assembling a governing majority.

But the outcome is not settled. UTJ has not formally joined an alternative government, Shas has not committed to switching sides, and Lieberman's party disputes the characterization of his position. Netanyahu has not announced retirement, and no replacement government has been sworn in.

The immediate question is whether the reported opening becomes an actual agreement on conscription and a parliamentary majority — or remains another unfulfilled coalition scenario.

Update, Nov. 6: Yisrael Beiteinu leader Avigdor Lieberman confirmed Friday on X that he is prepared to be flexible and compromise on the haredi conscription law — the issue most associated with his party — to assemble a 61-seat government without Benjamin Netanyahu and without relying on the Joint List or Ra'am. His red lines stay: end the Netanyahu era, avoid another election, and refuse any government that depends on Arab-party abstentions. United Torah Judaism chairman Yaakov Asher welcomed the flexibility but said there is still no proposal. Democrats leader Yair Golan separately claimed real progress toward a change government. President Isaac Herzog is expected to hand a mandate on Sunday.