Israel's president taps Netanyahu rival Eisenkot to form a government
Photo: KRM NewsPresident Isaac Herzog on Saturday chose opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot to try to form Israel's next government, handing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's chief rival the first opportunity to build a coalition after an inconclusive election left no bloc with a parliamentary majority.
Herzog will formally confer the mandate on Eisenkot at the President's Residence in Jerusalem on Sunday at 5 p.m. local time. Eisenkot will then have 28 days to assemble a government, with a possible 14-day extension — up to six weeks to negotiate with rival parties and secure the 61 seats needed for a majority in the 120-seat Knesset.
The decision follows two days of consultations with the newly elected parliament. Factions representing 67 of the Knesset's 120 members recommended Eisenkot, Herzog announced Thursday; Netanyahu received the backing of 46 lawmakers, while seven members of the ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism party declined to endorse either candidate. Herzog cautioned that the consultations' apparent clarity did not settle the question of who can actually form a government, given mutual disqualifications between and within the blocs.
The challenge for Eisenkot is that the 67 endorsements do not translate into a 67-seat governing coalition. In the October 27 election, Netanyahu's Likud emerged as the largest single party with 27 seats, while his wider bloc won 53. Eisenkot's four-party alliance seeking to replace him secured 48 seats. The remaining endorsements for Eisenkot came from two Arab-led parties, the Joint List and Ra'am, which together hold 19 seats — but several of his prospective coalition partners have ruled out depending on Arab parties to establish a government.
Eisenkot, a former chief of staff of the Israel Defense Forces who served as the country's top military commander from 2015 to 2019, leads the centrist Yashar party, which he founded on an anti-corruption and government reform platform. He joined Netanyahu's emergency war cabinet after the October 7, 2023, Hamas attacks, but left the following year, accusing Netanyahu of failing to make progress toward ending the Gaza war and securing the release of hostages. He lost his son Gal, a reservist killed in Gaza, as well as two nephews, during the war.
In a lengthy statement on Friday, Eisenkot outlined his plan to establish what he called a National Emergency Government, initially based on the four parties committed to replacing Netanyahu, while leaving the door open for additional parties and lawmakers to join. He said Israel faces "a genuine, tangible and dangerous national emergency," and set out four founding principles: recognition of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state; acceptance of the values of Israel's Declaration of Independence; universal military, national or civilian service; and recognition of Hamas as a terrorist organization, alongside a commitment to dismantle its military and governing capabilities.
One potentially significant development came Friday, when Avigdor Lieberman, leader of the secular nationalist Yisrael Beiteinu party, signaled a willingness to compromise on military conscription for ultra-Orthodox Jews — reversing a position that had long prevented political cooperation with religious parties. That shift could open a path to negotiations with United Torah Judaism, whose seven lawmakers withheld their recommendation from Netanyahu despite the party's longstanding alliance with him. But even bringing United Torah Judaism into the four-party opposition bloc would leave Eisenkot short of the 61 seats needed for a majority. A minority government established with the help of abstentions from parties outside the coalition remains an option discussed by Eisenkot's allies, but Lieberman has explicitly rejected one that depends on the Arab factions.
Netanyahu remains caretaker prime minister while the negotiations continue. If Eisenkot fails, Herzog can give another lawmaker a chance to form a government. If those efforts also fail, Israel could face another election.
Sources: NPR (Nov 7, 2026); Fox News (Nov 7, 2026).
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