🔻Eizenkot as vote counting begins: I will work to form a Zionist state

Gadi Eizenkot, the leader of the Yesh Atid party, considered the main rival of Benjamin Netanyahu, spoke to his supporters at the same time as the vote count began.

Mr. Eizenkot, amid the joy of his supporters, said that the people of Israel “have voted for change.”

He, while criticizing Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister of Israel, said: “If he were a worthy leader, he should have announced today his withdrawal from political life.”

Addressing his supporters, he said: “With all my strength, I will work to form a Zionist government that emphasizes recruitment of forces and conscription.”

Mr. Eizenkot, who implicitly described himself as the winner of the election, said he intends to be “the representative of all Israelis,” and said: “We will prove that this victory is not a victory of one faction over another, but the victory of all the people of Israel.”