Herzog Taps Eisenkot to Form Israel’s Next Government in Setback for Netanyahu

Israeli President Isaac Herzog has chosen former military chief Gadi Eisenkot to try to form the next government, a move that puts the chief rival of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu one step closer to ending the tenure of Israel’s longest-serving leader.

Herzog’s office said Saturday that the president would formally hand Eisenkot the mandate on Sunday. Eisenkot, who leads the centrist Yashar party, will then have 28 days to assemble a coalition, with a possible 14-day extension. If he fails, the mandate passes to Netanyahu for four weeks.

The decision followed two days of consultations with every party elected to the Knesset in the October 27 vote. Eisenkot won the backing of 67 of the 120 members, including 19 from the two Arab parties. Netanyahu received 46 recommendations. United Torah Judaism, a seven-member ultra-Orthodox party that has long backed Netanyahu, declined to recommend either man.

Neither bloc won the 61 seats needed for a majority. Netanyahu’s religious-nationalist bloc took 53 seats, Eisenkot’s four-party alliance took 48, and the Arab-led parties took a record 19.

A coalition with no easy path

Eisenkot says he wants to form what he calls a “national emergency government” and to swear in a minority government as soon as possible. It would rest on the four Jewish opposition parties, which together hold 48 seats: his Yashar party; Together, led by former prime ministers Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid; Avigdor Liberman’s Yisrael Beiteinu; and the left-wing Democrats, led by Yair Golan.

He has set four conditions for joining: recognition of Israel as a Jewish, democratic, liberal and egalitarian state; commitment to the values of the Declaration of Independence; universal service, whether military, national or civilian; and recognition of Hamas as a terrorist organization. The last condition rules out the Arab parties sitting in the cabinet, though they could still support a government from outside and give it a safety net in parliament.

The main obstacle is Liberman. The Yisrael Beiteinu leader has ruled out any government that depends on the Arab parties, arguing that a minority government would be short-lived and would in the end strengthen Netanyahu. He has proposed instead a coalition of 61 lawmakers with the two ultra-Orthodox parties, Shas and United Torah Judaism, and without the Arab parties. That plan clashes with the opposition’s pledge to end the blanket draft exemption for ultra-Orthodox men, and one of the ultra-Orthodox parties remains loyal to Netanyahu.

Netanyahu pushes back

Netanyahu, who has served as prime minister for a cumulative total of nearly 19 years, is challenging the election results and claims the vote was “stolen” by Arab parties through bribery and foreign funding. In a video statement Saturday, he warned that if a minority government is formed with the Arab parties’ support, Israel will “simply not survive.” He called instead for a national unity government with his entire bloc, which includes far-right and ultra-Orthodox parties.

Eisenkot dismissed the message as “pathetic spin.” In a statement, the Yashar party said: “If the Likud wants a broad unity government, it is more than welcome to announce the dissolution of the alliance with the extremists and enter a government under Prime Minister Eisenkot.”

Eisenkot’s first test comes Tuesday, when the new Knesset is sworn in. The opposition intends to replace Netanyahu’s Knesset speaker, a move that would weaken his grip on power and let the opposition begin steps such as forming a state commission of inquiry into the security failures behind the October 7, 2023, attack by Hamas.

The outcome also matters in Washington. Netanyahu is a close ally of President Donald Trump, who endorsed him before the election and said anyone else would be the “wrong leader” of Israel. If Eisenkot succeeds, the nature of the United States’ relationship with Israel could change. In February, Trump and Netanyahu launched a joint war against Iran, a conflict that has continued for more than eight months.

Reporting based on coverage by CNN and USA Today.