Gadi Eisenkot last week became the latest Israeli politician to pledge to form a "Zionist majority" government if he became Israel's next prime minister.
The phrase is widely understood as ruling out a coalition with Palestinian Arab parties to unseat Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
"I prefer to achieve a Zionist majority of 63-64 seats, and if that doesn't happen, to call on the ultra-Orthodox parties to understand the gravity of the moment," Eisenkot, a former general and leader of the Yashar party, said at a security conference organised by Yedioth Ahronoth and the Institute for National Security Studies.
"If they don't understand, then it's better to go to new elections," he added.
His remarks reflect a broader shift. From Naftali Bennett to Yair Lapid, leaders across the anti-Netanyahu camp have increasingly ruled out forming a government that relies on Palestinian Arab parties, including the United Arab List (Ra'am), whose leader, Mansour Abbas, has repeatedly said he is willing to negotiate with Jewish-majority parties.
