On a Saturday evening in November, Israel's president passed over the long-serving Benjamin Netanyahu and entrusted the task of forming a government to Gadi Eisenkot, a former military chief whose path to power now depends on a narrow arithmetic. Divided by an October election that gave neither camp a majority, the country again finds its fate placed in the hands of compromise, where the question is less who leads than who can be bound together. Whether that binding holds, or whether the nation returns to the polls, will shape how Israel carries the weight of its recent war and its unsettled s
Herzog Taps Eisenkot Over Netanyahu to Form Israel's Next Government
On a Saturday evening in November, Israel's president passed over the long-serving Benjamin Netanyahu and entrusted the task of forming a government to Gadi Eisenkot, a former military chief whose path to power now depends on a narrow arithmetic. Divided by an October election that gave neither camp a majority, the country again finds its fate placed in the hands of compromise, where the question is less who leads than who can be bound together. Whether that binding holds, or whether the nation returns to the polls, will shape how Israel carries the weight of its recent war and its unsettled sense of itself.
On Saturday evening, Israeli President Isaac Herzog told Gadi Eisenkot that he would try to form the next government, setting aside the sitting prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. The mandate will be formally handed over at a ceremony on Sunday, and with it begins a race against a clock.
The October 27 election left neither side with a majority. After a week of consultations, about 67 lawmakers backed Eisenkot, leader of the Yashar party, including members of Arab-led parties, while only 46 endorsed Netanyahu. Eisenkot's four-party alliance won 48 seats, well short of the 61 needed in the 120-seat Knesset. Arab-led parties won a record 19 seats, but Eisenkot has ruled out governing with them, which leaves the ultra-Orthodox parties UTJ and Shas as the path to exactly 61. He may also govern with fewer seats by winning a confidence vote, and he has 28 days, with a possible 14-day extension.
If he fails, the mandate passes to another nominee, then to a third candidate backed by a parliamentary majority, and finally to a new election within 90 days, with Netanyahu serving as caretaker.
Eisenkot, who led the military from 2015 to 2019 and sat briefly in Netanyahu's war cabinet, faces the hard task of assembling a government that can win confidence without breaking too many campaign promises. Opponents on the other side are already sharp. Netanyahu warned that an Arab-backed government would dismantle Israel from within, while Ahmad Tibi of the Joint List called the decision expected and predicted a minority government with outside support from Arab parties, driven by the priority of ousting Netanyahu and his allies.
The clock starts Sunday. The question is whether Eisenkot can build a majority through the ultra-Orthodox parties or a minority government can survive a vote, before Israel is pushed toward another election.
On Saturday evening, Israel's President Isaac Herzog told Gadi Eisenkot that he would be the one to try to form the country's next government. Herzog passed over Benjamin Netanyahu, the sitting prime minister. The president's spokesperson said the mandate will be handed over formally at a ceremony on Sunday.
The decision follows a week of consultations Herzog held with the political parties. The October 27 general election left neither side with a majority, so the choice was his to make. In those consultations, about 67 lawmakers endorsed Eisenkot, leader of the Yashar party, including members of Arab-led parties. Only 46 backed Netanyahu.
The arithmetic of the election explains why the task is hard. Eisenkot's four-party alliance won 48 seats, and Netanyahu's right-wing and religious bloc won 53. Both fell short of the 61 needed in the 120-seat Knesset. Arab-led parties, which represent Palestinian citizens of Israel, won a record 19 seats.
Eisenkot has ruled out building a government with those Arab-led parties, even though their seats would take his bloc to 67. Without them, the path runs through the two ultra-Orthodox parties, United Torah Judaism and Shas, whose support would bring him to exactly 61. He could also govern with fewer than 61 seats if he wins a parliamentary confidence vote. He has 28 days, with a possible 14-day extension.
If he fails, Herzog will nominate another candidate. If that nominee also fails, a majority in parliament can back a third candidate, who would get a final 14 days. If no government is formed even then, a new election is called within 90 days, and Netanyahu stays on as caretaker prime minister.
Eisenkot led Israel's military from 2015 to 2019. He sat as an observer in Netanyahu's war cabinet for the first eight months of the war on Gaza, which began in October 2023. Al Jazeera's Nour Odeh, reporting from Ramallah, said Herzog "took the predictable route" because Eisenkot had the most recommendations. She said the hard work now is assembling a government that can win a confidence vote without breaking too many campaign promises, and that can survive opposition from Netanyahu's bloc.
Ahmad Tibi, a senior member of the Joint List, the Arab-led coalition holding 11 seats, called the decision "expected" in comments to Al Jazeera. He said his side had feared Herzog would steer toward a national unity government, meaning a power-sharing deal between Eisenkot and Netanyahu. Tibi predicted a minority government with "external support from the Arab parties." It would not be a "dream government," he said, but his priority is bringing down the government of Netanyahu, Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich.
Hours before Herzog's decision, Netanyahu warned in a prerecorded video that a government backed by Arab-led parties would "dismantle the state of Israel from within." He compared it to what he claimed was happening in European countries, language that echoes far-right politicians who falsely say parts of Europe have come under Islamic law. Tibi said Netanyahu had described Arab lawmakers as supporters of terrorism, and answered by calling Netanyahu the biggest terrorist in Israel and the region, particularly over Jewish violence in the West Bank. Odeh noted that although Eisenkot has said he does not want to govern with Arab-led parties, the two sides share compelling reasons to remove Netanyahu.
The clock starts with Sunday's ceremony. The question is whether Eisenkot can reach 61 through the ultra-Orthodox parties, or win a confidence vote with a minority government, before the deadline pushes Israel toward another election.
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