Yashar, led by Gadi Eisenkot, submitted over 61 MK signatures to Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana on Tuesday, demanding his replacement and calling for a vote to elect a new speaker, prompting him to schedule a plenum vote for next week.
Ousting Ohana, a member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud, will give the opposition bloc greater control over the Knesset’s legislative agenda before a government is formed.
Ahead of the swearing-in of the 26th Knesset, the opposition bloc seeking to replace Netanyahu said that it agreed to nominate incoming Yashar MK and former minister Matan Kahana as its candidate for Knesset speaker.
The announcement came after agreements were reached following an ongoing dispute between party leaders in the bloc – Eisenkot, Naftali Bennett (B’Yachad), Avigdor Liberman (Yisrael Beytenu), and Yair Golan (the Democrats) – over who should hold the role.
It was also announced that Liberman would serve as chairman of the key Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee. The panel oversees national security matters and military budgets and, notably, also handles legislation related to IDF conscription.
Further, the opposition bloc announced agreements on appointments to other key Knesset committees for the period before a government is formed: the Finance Committee and the Arrangements Committee, a temporary Knesset committee responsible for organizing the Knesset’s work at the beginning of a new parliamentary term.
Liran Avisar Ben-Horin, a member of Bennett’s B’Yachad list, was selected to head the Finance Committee. Incoming Yashar MK Roy Folkman was selected to head the Arrangements Committee.
Knesset speaker nominee Kahana had served as Religious Services minister between 2021 and 2022. He remained an MK until July 2025, when he resigned his seat as a member of the Blue and White party, led by Benny Gantz.
He is an IDF colonel in the reserves who served in the General Staff Reconnaissance Unit concurrently with Bennett, and later joined the Israel Air Force’s Flight Academy, becoming an F-16 pilot.
Knesset committees' make-up to be finalized by next Wednesday
The composition of the committees will be discussed and finalized in the Arrangements Committee’s deliberations during the week and brought to the Knesset plenum for approval next Wednesday, Yashar said.
Yashar added that the committees’ composition was agreed on, with further details to be published separately at a later date.
The opposition bloc has pushed to replace Ohana to have greater control over the parliamentary agenda, including votes, legislation, and committee appointments, even if Netanyahu remains in office as head of a caretaker government.
The opposition bloc had originally disagreed over who should be the candidate for Knesset speaker. Liberman announced last week that he would support B’Yachad’s Yair Lapid for the role. However, he held a joint meeting with Eisenkot on Monday, where the two reportedly agreed on the nominee.
At least 61 MKs must formally sign a request or vote to replace the Knesset speaker.
In response to the letter signed by MKs in the opposition bloc, Ohana said he set the plenum vote to replace the Knesset speaker for next week on Tuesday “despite his strong opposition to the intentions of the emerging coalition.”
Ohana said last week he would not hold a vote to replace the Knesset speaker on the day of the inaugural ceremony, but would schedule it for the following week if a formal request with sufficient support was submitted.
Israel's 26th Knesset sworn in after Eisenkot receives mandate
Opposition bloc parties submitted numerous bills already on the Knesset swearing-in day.
Yashar announced that it submitted a series of bills, including proposals to establish a state commission of inquiry into the October 7 massacre, which Netanyahu and the political echelon have repeatedly blocked during the government’s 25th term.
Eisenkot’s party also submitted a bill to introduce term limits for the prime minister through an amendment to the Basic Law: the Government. It also submitted bills to repeal contentious legislation passed during the previous government’s term, such as a bill to overhaul Israel’s broadcasting sector, along with a bill to significantly weaken the power of the attorney-general.
The 26th Knesset was sworn in Tuesday afternoon amid an ongoing political deadlock, as the October 27 election results showed both Netanyahu’s bloc and the opposition bloc lacked the 61-seat majority required to form a coalition.
On Sunday, President Isaac Herzog officially handed Eisenkot the mandate to form a government at a ceremony at the President’s Residence.
By law, Eisenkot has 28 days to form a government, from the moment he was tasked with the responsibility on Sunday, and the president may grant him an extension of up to 14 additional days if necessary.
Eisenkot said “unconventional steps” would be required to form a government and expressed confidence that it would be possible.