Can Netanyahu and Eisenkot form a ‘unity’ government in Israel?

Israel’s caretaker Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has renewed his appeal for a unity government with opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot, casting a coalition that would keep him in power as integral to Israel’s national security. In a video statement on Saturday, Netanyahu said his meeting with Eisenkot on Thursday “only strengthened the conviction that it is essential to form a national unity government”. He said such a government could “eliminate the Iranian threat once and for all” and claimed Tehran would “not hesitate to use nuclear weapons against us”. Eisenkot, the leader of the Yashar party and the man given the first shot to form Israel’s next government by President Isaac Herzog, called Netanyahu’s appeal a “bluff”.