Israel’s President Isaac Herzog has officially tasked Gadi Eisenkot with the mission of forming the country’s next government, a decision that bypasses current Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The president informed Eisenkot of his selection on Saturday evening and is scheduled to formally present the mandate during a ceremony on Sunday. This appointment follows a series of consultations held by Herzog with various political parties throughout the week to determine the most viable candidate after neither major bloc secured a clear majority in the general election held on October 27.
The decision was based on the number of recommendations received from lawmakers. A total of 67 members of the Knesset, including representatives from Arab-led parties, endorsed Eisenkot, the leader of the Yashar party. In contrast, only 46 lawmakers supported Netanyahu. Eisenkot now has a 28-day window, with the possibility of a 14-day extension, to assemble a coalition that commands at least 61 seats in the 120-seat parliament, which is the minimum threshold required to form a government.
The October election results left the political landscape divided. Eisenkot’s four-party alliance claimed 48 seats, while Netanyahu’s coalition of right-wing and religious parties secured 53 seats. Both groups fell short of the 61-seat majority needed to govern independently. Meanwhile, Arab-led parties, which represent Palestinian citizens of Israel, achieved a record high by winning 19 seats. Eisenkot has indicated that he does not intend to form a government that includes these Arab-led parties, even though their support would technically give him a 67-seat bloc.
To reach the necessary majority, Eisenkot’s strategy involves winning over the two ultra-Orthodox parties, United Torah Judaism and Shas. Their support would bring his total to exactly 61 seats. Alternatively, he could form a smaller government with fewer than 61 seats if he succeeds in passing a parliamentary confidence vote. If Eisenkot fails to construct a viable government within the allotted time, Herzog will nominate a second candidate. Should that candidate also fail, a parliamentary majority can support a third nominee, who will have a final 14 days to form a government. If all attempts fail, a new election will be called within 90 days, with Netanyahu remaining in place as a caretaker prime minister.
Al Jazeera correspondent Nour Odeh, reporting from Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, described the president’s choice as the predictable route given the high number of recommendations Eisenkot received. Odeh noted that the challenging work begins now for Eisenkot to build a government capable of passing a confidence vote. The new administration must balance the promises made during the campaign while surviving the opposition from the right-wing bloc led by Netanyahu.
Eisenkot, who served as Israel’s military chief from 2015 to 2019, was an observer in Netanyahu’s war cabinet for the first eight months of the war in Gaza that began in October 2023. Ahmad Tibi, a senior member of the Joint List, a coalition of Arab-led parties holding 11 seats, told Al Jazeera that the decision was expected. Tibi expressed concern that the president might have pursued a national unity government involving power sharing with Netanyahu, but instead, the Arab-led parties granted Eisenkot a considerable margin of support.
Tibi believes Eisenkot is moving toward a minority government that would rely on external support from the Arab parties. While he acknowledged this is not the ideal outcome for his group, he prioritized the goal of ending the government led by Netanyahu, Itamar Ben-Gvir, and Bezalel Smotrich. Hours before the announcement, Netanyahu had warned that a government dependent on Arab-led parties would lead to the state’s collapse. In a prerecorded video, he argued that such a government, reliant on Islamists, would dismantle Israel from within, a claim that echoes rhetoric from far-right politicians in Europe.
In response to Netanyahu’s critique, Tibi stated that the prime minister described his supporters as backers of terrorists and terrorism. Tibi countered by calling Netanyahu the biggest terrorist in Israel and the region, citing the prime minister’s support for what he termed Jewish terrorism in the West Bank and Palestinian territories. Despite Eisenkot’s stated preference against including Arab parties in the cabinet, Odeh observed that both sides share a compelling reason to see Netanyahu removed from power.
