The Trump administration is quietly pushing for a broad Israeli unity government in which war criminal Netanyahu would remain in power for up to two years before retiring from political life, in exchange for regional peace agreements, Israel Hayom reported. US Ambassador Mike Huckabee denied the report in a post on X.
A senior American official said the message has reached top Israeli political figures directly and through diplomatic channels, and that while officials are careful to avoid interfering in the Israeli elections, the United States and the international community would welcome "a broad and stable government free of extremist elements."
One proposed framework would see a government led by Likud alongside Yashar, the new Knesset slate led by Eisenkot, the former army chief of staff. Netanyahu would serve for a limited period during which the government would work to end the wars on all fronts and advance agreements with regional countries, primarily Saudi Arabia, after which he would retire.
Washington is pressing Saudi Arabia to join the Abraham Accords with offers of security cooperation, including F-35 fighter jets and a civilian nuclear facility, while the Saudis are conditioning the move on a change in the composition of the Israeli government.
Diplomatic officials say such a government could also mitigate expanding sanctions on Israel, and one official said the issue surfaced in conversations in which the American administration criticized Israel's handling of settler attacks on Palestinians in the occupied West Bank. A foreign diplomat tracking the developments warned that the chance could slip away, saying that "a narrow government will not be able to bring about changes and major diplomatic decisions."
President Isaac Herzog has also been named in the discussions, which his office denied, and he has said he would "do everything I can so that there are no repeat elections." Eisenkot's bloc is expected to demand a strict commitment that Netanyahu retires on schedule, the repeal of laws passed under the judicial overhaul, a restructuring of checks and balances, and a state commission of inquiry into October 7.
Huckabee met several senior party leaders, including Eisenkot, in September, Israel Hayom said. Kan reported that Huckabee held a secret meeting with Eisenkot in the days before the October 27 Knesset elections, describing it as the first and only meeting between the two men, in which they discussed security issues, including tensions and settler violence in the occupied West Bank, and the situation in Gaza. The date and location were not disclosed. Neither Huckabee nor Eisenkot's office issued an official statement on the meeting, and Yashar declined to comment.
A separate meeting between Huckabee and Netanyahu was canceled at the last minute by Netanyahu, without a reason given, and no new date was set. Huckabee was said to have described it as a friendly social meeting between the two men and their wives, unrelated to security, that would be rescheduled.
President Donald Trump has not endorsed either Netanyahu or Eisenkot. A Channel 12 poll showed the opposition bloc at 67 seats against 49 for the governing coalition, with 61 needed to form a government, and Yashar at 23 seats against 20 for Likud. In the same poll, 45 percent of respondents said Eisenkot would make a better prime minister, compared with 35 percent for Netanyahu.
