US Ambassador Holds Secret Opposition Meeting as Poll Shows Netanyahu Trailing
Secret Meeting With Eisenkot
US Ambassador Mike Huckabee held a previously
undisclosed meeting with Israeli opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot in the run-up
to the October 27 Knesset elections, Israel’s public broadcaster reported
Thursday.
The meeting took place in recent days and was the
first and only encounter between Huckabee and the Yashar party leader,
according to the broadcaster. It did not disclose the location or date.
Citing a source familiar with the discussion, the
report said the two addressed security issues, including tensions in the
occupied West Bank, violence by illegal Israeli Jewish settlers and the
situation in Gaza.
Neither Huckabee nor Eisenkot’s office publicly
announced the meeting. Yashar declined to comment, according to the
broadcaster.
Netanyahu Meeting Canceled
The broadcaster separately reported that a scheduled
meeting between Huckabee and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was canceled at
the last minute.
An informed source attributed the cancellation to
Netanyahu but provided no explanation. No new date has been set.
The disclosures come amid scrutiny of Washington’s
position ahead of the closely contested election.
Netanyahu has repeatedly promoted his relationship
with President Donald Trump, who has praised him over the years. Trump,
however, had not announced support for either Netanyahu or Eisenkot in the
upcoming vote.
Poll Shows Opposition Ahead
A Channel 12 poll published Monday projected 67 seats
for the opposition bloc in the 120-member Knesset, compared with 49 for
Netanyahu’s governing coalition.
A minimum of 61 seats is needed to form a government.
Eisenkot’s Yashar party led the poll with 23 projected
seats, ahead of Likud’s 20. Asked whom they preferred as prime minister, 45%
chose Eisenkot and 35% chose Netanyahu.
Netanyahu has led the current government since
December 2022, heading a coalition widely described as the most right-wing in
Israel’s history.
He also faces a domestic trial involving charges of
bribery, fraud and breach of trust.
Separately, the International Criminal Court issued an
arrest warrant for Netanyahu in 2024 over suspected war crimes and crimes
against humanity in Gaza.
More than 74,000 Palestinians have been killed in
Israel’s genocide in Gaza since October 2023, according to Palestinian figures
cited in the report.
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