JERUSALEM — Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Saturday gave opposition candidate Gadi Eisenkot the first opportunity to form a governing coalition following the deadlocked Oct. 27 election.1,4,7
Neither Eisenkot, a former military chief who ran as the main challenger to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, nor Netanyahu won a clear majority, but representatives of most of Israel's main parties recommended Eisenkot during marathon discussions with Herzog this week. The decision puts Eisenkot a step closer to ousting Israel's longest-serving premier, while Netanyahu remains as caretaker prime minister until a new government is formed.1,4,7
Netanyahu's religious-nationalist bloc won 53 of the Knesset's 120 seats, short of the 61 needed for a majority, while a four-party bloc opposing Netanyahu led by Eisenkot won 48 seats. Likud, Netanyahu's party, won the most seats of any single party with 27, making it the largest party in parliament, while Eisenkot's Yashar party was second with 21 seats. Two parties representing Israel's Arab minority won 19 seats after what was described as their highest turnout ever.1,7
Shortly before Herzog's announcement, which had been expected on Sunday, Netanyahu called in a video statement for a "national unity government" and warned against "hastily swearing in a government with terrorist supporters," language he uses to refer to the Arab-led parties that have backed Eisenkot. Netanyahu has leveled allegations, so far without evidence, that some Arab countries interfered in the elections, and has made unsubstantiated claims that Arab parties "stole" the elections.1,4
The acting director-general of the Central Elections Committee, Din Livne, said in a letter on Thursday that "there is no basis to the claims regarding a systematic compromise of the integrity of the elections." Netanyahu and his allies have repeatedly portrayed the Arab-led parties as a threat to national security, while Eisenkot has indicated a willingness to partner with them under certain conditions, including agreeing to refer to Hamas as a terrorist group that needs to be destroyed.1,4
"Now is the time to form a national emergency government. I will do everything to ensure we are worthy," Eisenkot wrote on X in his first reaction to the designation. His party, Yashar, criticized Netanyahu's video in a statement posted on X and urged members of Likud to disavow their alliance with what it called "radical parties," seen as a reference to settler-linked and ultra-Orthodox parties in Netanyahu's coalition and to far-right parties in his base. The statement said Eisenkot would only include parties and parliament members who support his party's principles.1,4
Because neither bloc won a majority, both would need some support from the Arab parties to form a coalition, leaving those parties as potential kingmakers. The heads of the two largest Arab parties said they would be willing to help Eisenkot's bloc oust Netanyahu, though most of the Jewish-led parties that oppose Netanyahu vowed before the election not to rely on Arab support. An Arab party has been part of a governing coalition just once in Israel's history, and forming such an alliance could be divisive after more than three years of war in Gaza.1,4,7
Eisenkot's possible paths include a broad unity government with major Jewish parties including Likud, a coalition with ultra-Orthodox parties he and his allies have shunned in the past, or a minority government sustained by external Arab support without those parties as formal members. Other members of his bloc have said they would reject such an alliance with Arab parties from the outside, and a unity arrangement faces deep differences, including Netanyahu's reliance on religious parties seeking draft exemptions for ultra-Orthodox men and his opposition to a formal investigation into security failures surrounding the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attacks.4,7
Eisenkot, 66, a son of Moroccan immigrants, would be the country's first prime minister from the Mizrahi community of Jews who trace their roots to the Middle East and North Africa. Described as reserved and media-shy, he entered politics in 2022 and briefly served in Netanyahu's wartime cabinet after the Oct. 7 attack before returning to the opposition, where he rebuked Netanyahu over his leadership and management of the military campaign in Gaza and swore he would not serve in government with him. His family has paid a personal price since 2023, with a son and two nephews killed fighting in Gaza.7
On the campaign trail he highlighted his security credentials, citing his "Dahiyeh doctrine" of responding to attacks with disproportionate force, which he deployed as a commander during Israel's 2006 war with Hezbollah in Lebanon. The idea, named after a Beirut suburb heavily damaged in that war, involves vowing massive force against civilian infrastructure in areas controlled by Hezbollah. Israel has applied the doctrine again in Gaza, where its assault has killed more than 74,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza health ministry, causing destruction that critics say amounts to war crimes, an assertion disputed by Israel.7
Eisenkot has criticized settler violence against Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, which has surged since 2023, decrying recent outbreaks as "Jewish terror" abetted by Netanyahu's government. He opposes Netanyahu's coalition partners Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, who have faced sanctions by some Western countries for inciting violence against Palestinians. He has 28 days to forge a government, with a possible 14-day extension, or up to six weeks, in a country still reeling from the 2023 attacks and the wars in Gaza and beyond; if he fails, another candidate can try, parliament can nominate another, and if no one succeeds within about 100 days, another election is held, with Netanyahu remaining in the interim.4,7
"President Herzog has invited Gadi Eisenkot to the President’s Residence, where he will be tasked with forming the government tomorrow," said the spokesperson for Herzog, whose largely ceremonial role involves nominating a candidate after elections. Once the new Knesset is sworn in, even without a new government, Eisenkot's bloc along with the Arab parties could begin passing laws because together they will control a parliamentary majority. Netanyahu, whom President Trump endorsed, remains in office until a coalition is negotiated.1,7
