JERUSALEM (VINnews) — Diplomats from countries that maintain friendly relations with Israel have recently approached charedi political figures to explore whether the charedi parties might be willing to join a government led by former IDF chief of staff Gadi Eisenkot, according to a report by the Israeli news outlet Hayom.

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The reported contacts reflect international interest in possible alternatives to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s government ahead of Israel’s next election. According to the report, the diplomats are trying to determine whether support from the charedi parties could help Eisenkot assemble a viable governing coalition.

The diplomats reportedly believe that a government dependent on the Arab parties would struggle to survive politically, while Netanyahu could wait for such a government to collapse and seek to return to power. They are therefore examining whether the charedi parties could provide a more stable alternative. One of their central questions is whether the charedi parties’ rabbinic leadership would approve participation in a government headed by Eisenkot, whose political positions differ from those of the current coalition on several major issues.

The report did not identify the diplomats or the countries they represent, and it did not establish that formal coalition negotiations have begun.

The reported diplomatic feelers come amid growing debate over whether Eisenkot can attract charedi support despite his firm position on military service. In July, Eisenkot said he would be willing to partner with Shas if it accepted his core political principles. However, he has repeatedly insisted that a future government must establish a framework requiring military, national, or civilian service, including for charedi men. He has said he would not abandon that principle even at the cost of another election.

The conscription dispute remains a major obstacle for the charedi parties, whose political leadership has traditionally sought to protect yeshiva students from compulsory military service. A September report in The Jerusalem Post said charedi political figures were considering remaining outside the next coalition until the draft-law crisis was resolved, potentially allowing legislation to advance without their direct participation in government.

The report added that charedi representatives presented their parties as pragmatic on territorial issues. They reportedly told the diplomats that the parties are not driven by a messianic vision of settling Gaza, Lebanon, or Syria, and do not make settlement expansion in Judea and Samaria a central political objective. One charedi source reportedly said the parties would not necessarily block a diplomatic agreement concerning Judea and Samaria, although the rabbis would have the final say if such an agreement came to a vote.

That picture is consistent with broader reporting that the charedi parties generally prioritize religious, educational, budgetary, and community interests over a comprehensive ideological platform on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Their positions on settlements and territorial policy are not entirely uniform, however, and the parties’ ultimate decisions would depend on the terms of any proposed agreement.