In a country where power is always being negotiated rather than simply inherited, the president has set aside the incumbent and turned toward Gadi Eisenkot, asking him to attempt the work of building a government. The election left no one with the numbers to rule alone, so the question of who governs has passed into a quieter, slower arena of alliance and persuasion. Whether a coalition can be stitched together from divided parts, and how a long-serving leader absorbs being passed over, are the questions that now hang over the next chapter of Israeli public life.
Israel's President Turns to Eisenkot, Not Netanyahu, as Coalition Talks Begin
Being handed the task is not the same as having a government.
Mark
So what actually happened here? Netanyahu didn't lose his job, did he?
Mimi
Not yet. Nobody won a majority, so the president picked who gets the first try at building a government. He picked Eisenkot.
Luke
Worth being precise: Herzog's choice followed recommendations from Israel's main parties. That's what the reporting says. It doesn't give us the numbers behind those recommendations.
Mark
Why does the first try matter so much?
Mimi
It gives Eisenkot the first chance to assemble a coalition, and it means Netanyahu has been passed over for that opening.
Luke
But a mandate isn't a majority. Eisenkot has the opportunity, not the votes. We don't know which parties would join him.
Mark
And Netanyahu's reaction?
Mimi
That's one of the things to watch as talks begin.
Luke
Right, and it's unknown for now. The source gives no response from him, and no deadline for Eisenkot either.
Mark
So the story is really about what comes next.
Mimi
Yes. Whether Eisenkot can build something viable is the whole question.
Der Puls
- The election ended without a clear winner, leaving Israel's governing question suspended and the country waiting on its next move.
- Netanyahu, who has held the office, has been passed over for the first chance to form a government, a sharp shift in the political order.
- President Herzog has handed the initial mandate to Eisenkot after the main parties recommended him, opening a race to assemble a majority.
- Eisenkot now must turn party endorsements into a working coalition, and the reporting does not yet reveal seat counts or likely partners.
- The next moves, including how Netanyahu responds and whether talks can produce a stable majority, remain unresolved.
In a country where power is always being negotiated rather than simply inherited, the president has set aside the incumbent and turned toward Gadi Eisenkot, asking him to attempt the work of building a government. The election left no one with the numbers to rule alone, so the question of who governs has passed into a quieter, slower arena of alliance and persuasion. Whether a coalition can be stitched together from divided parts, and how a long-serving leader absorbs being passed over, are the questions that now hang over the next chapter of Israeli public life.
Israel's president, Isaac Herzog, has turned away from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and toward Gadi Eisenkot, his main rival, as he looks for someone to form the next government. The decision follows an election in which neither man won enough support to command a majority in parliament, leaving the country without a clear path forward.
Herzog's choice rests on recommendations from Israel's main parties, which have backed Eisenkot. That gives him the first opportunity to build a coalition and means Netanyahu, who currently holds the office, has been set aside for the initial mandate.
But the task is only the beginning. Eisenkot must now convert those endorsements into a working majority, and the available reporting does not yet say how many seats he commands or which parties might join him. Netanyahu's response to losing the first call remains unknown as negotiations take shape.
Israel's president has turned to Gadi Eisenkot, not Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, to try to form the country's next government. The move follows an election in which neither man won enough support to command a majority in parliament.
Eisenkot ran as Netanyahu's main rival. The result left the two without a clear path to a governing majority, and that put the next step in the hands of President Isaac Herzog, who formally decides who gets the first chance to assemble a coalition.
Herzog's decision rests on recommendations from the parties themselves. Israel's main parties have recommended Eisenkot to form the new government, according to the reporting. That backing gives him the first opportunity to build a coalition, and it means Netanyahu, who holds the office now, has been passed over for the initial mandate.
Being handed the task is not the same as having a government. Eisenkot still has to turn the recommendations into a working majority, and the reporting says only that no one side secured one at the ballot box. The source material offers no details on the seat counts, on which parties are likely to join him, or on how long he has to put a coalition together.
Nor does it say how Netanyahu has responded. How he reacts to losing the first call on the mandate is one of the open questions as talks begin.
What comes next is the negotiating itself. The things to watch are whether Eisenkot can assemble a viable coalition from the parties that backed him, and what Netanyahu does while he is passed over.
Möchten Sie die ganze Geschichte?
Das Original lesen bei NPR ↗
Politics & Governance