Feed aggregator

Gadi Eizenkot, chairman of the Yashar! party and former IDF chief of staff, has reportedly proposed a new framework aimed at resolving the growing leadership rivalry within Israel’s anti-Netanyahu bloc. Under the plan, the leader of whichever party wins the most seats in the next election would automatically receive the bloc’s backing to form a government.

According to a report by Amit Segal on Channel 12 News Sunday evening, Eizenkot presented the proposal several weeks ago to a number of opposition party leaders. The move is intended to avoid a prolonged struggle over who would lead the bloc and, at least for the foreseeable future, appears to sideline the idea of a “grand merger” involving Eizenkot, Naftali Bennett, and Yair Lapid.

The proposal is also directed at Yisrael Beiteinu chairman Avigdor Lieberman, who has repeatedly stated in recent months that he aspires to become prime minister. Current polling places his party at approximately eight to nine seats.

Responding to the report, Opposition Leader Yair Lapid published a message on X in which he appealed directly to Eizenkot.

“We love and appreciate Gadi Eizenkot and believe that if he joins the union it will bring the country hope for change and lay the foundations for the government of repair and healing that the country so desperately needs. Gadi, come!”

Earlier Sunday, Bennett renewed his criticism of Eizenkot over the latter’s recent meeting with Degel HaTorah chairman Moshe Gafni.

Speaking at an event over the weekend, Bennett said: “It’s naive, it’s naive… because you will enter negotiations and then they will say what the parameters are for an exemption. What Gafni and Deri forgot, Eizenkot and Yair Golan have not yet learned. Therefore there is no room for dialogue, simply.”

Bennett’s latest attack on Eizenkot and Yair Golan is part of a broader series of clashes within the opposition and comes as recent surveys have shown growing support for Eizenkot’s Yashar! party.

A Channel 12 poll released last week found that Eizenkot is now viewed as the opposition’s most suitable candidate for prime minister.

The same survey also examined the possibility of a joint slate comprising Bennett, Lapid, and Eizenkot. According to the results, such a unified party would emerge as the largest faction in the Knesset with 38 seats.

However, the poll found that if the parties run separately, they would collectively earn 39 seats—22 for Bennett and Lapid’s joint list and 17 for Eizenkot’s Yashar! party.

The survey further indicated that under a Bennett-Lapid-Eizenkot merger scenario, Likud would maintain its strength with 23 seats. The Democrats would receive 11 seats, while Yisrael Beiteinu would win 10.

Shas would secure eight seats, while both United Torah Judaism and Otzma Yehudit would also receive eight seats each, according to the poll.

The Torah communities of Manchester and London are mourning the petirah of Rav Yosef Chaim Greenhaus zt”l, a respected mechanech who devoted more than four decades to educating generations of talmidim. He was 76 years old.

Rav Greenhaus passed away on Shabbos at a hospital in Manchester, England, following a prolonged period of suffering and illness.

Affectionately known throughout the community as “Reb Yossi,” he was born 76 years ago to Rav Moshe Mordechai Greenhaus z”l and Mrs. Sarah Yehudis Fried Greenhaus a”h.

For more than forty years, he served as a beloved melamed at Talmud Torah Yesodei HaTorah in London’s Stamford Hill neighborhood. Thousands of talmidim passed through his classroom over the years, benefiting from his warmth, dedication, and unique educational approach. He was known for instilling Torah values and yiras Shamayim in generations of children, many of whom maintained a deep affection and appreciation for him long after leaving his class.

Approximately a decade ago, Rav Greenhaus relocated to Manchester to be closer to his children. Despite advancing age, he continued learning with remarkable diligence, spending long hours immersed in Torah study at a kollel for rabbonim under the leadership of Rav Eliezer Kaufman.

About six months ago, his health began to deteriorate, leading to a lengthy hospitalization. During that difficult period, the family endured an additional tragedy with the passing of his brother, Reb Shamai Zerach Greenhaus z”l of Haifa.

He is survived by his wife, children, grandchildren, and a large extended family living in Manchester, Gateshead, and Eretz Yisroel.

Among his brothers are Rav Dovid Greenhaus, a dayan on the Kedasia Beis Din in London, and Rav Tzvi Greenhaus of Bnei Brak.

His brothers-in-law include Rav Yisroel Gukovitzky, rov of the Bruchim Haba’im Shul in London who now resides in Beit Shemesh and is the author of Targum HaLa’az and Maaseh Oreg, as well as Rav Daniel Ortzel, rosh kollel of Kollel Pinto in Manchester.

The levayah is scheduled to take place on Monday in Manchester. Levayah arrangements were delayed due to bureaucratic procedures involving the release of the body by the local coroner’s office, which is closed on Sundays. He will be laid to rest in the Machzikei Hadas cemetery in Manchester.

Tehei Nishmaso Tzerurah B’Tzror HaChaim.

{Matzav.com}