Israel's Eisenkot Appointed to Form Govt After Election Deadlock
Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Saturday selected opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot to attempt the formation of a new government, according to Israeli media reports. This decision follows a parliamentary election that failed to produce a decisive winner, leaving both Eisenkot and incumbent Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu without an immediate route to a governing majority. Eisenkot, who previously served as the chief of staff of the Israel Defense Forces, is scheduled to formally accept the mandate on Sunday evening. Upon receiving this authority, he will be granted a period of 28 days to assemble a coalition, with the possibility of a 14-day extension if necessary.
The electoral results, released following the vote on October 27, showed Netanyahu’s right-wing bloc securing 53 seats in the 120-seat Knesset. While this figure represents the largest single grouping in parliament, it falls short of the 61 seats required to command a majority. In contrast, the opposition alliance led by Eisenot captured 48 seats. A significant shift occurred with Arab-led parties, which achieved a record total of 19 seats combined, positioning them as potential kingmakers in the subsequent coalition negotiations.
During consultations with President Herzog earlier in the week, both Arab-led factions explicitly endorsed Eisenkot. Mansour Abbas’s Ra’am party announced its support alongside its eight lawmakers on Wednesday. This was followed on Thursday by the Joint List, whose members unanimously backed Eisenkot. These endorsements brought Eisenkot’s total count of supportive lawmakers to 67, surpassing Netanyahu’s 46. The Joint List stated that its unified decision was driven by public demand to prevent Netanyahu and his administration from returning to power, aiming to widen Eisenkot’s lead to facilitate the replacement of the current government.
Notably, United Torah Judaism, a party that had supported Netanyahu in the previous five elections, declined to recommend him for this term, although it also did not extend support to Eisenkot. Following the consultations, President Herzog indicated on Thursday that it would be logical to entrust the mandate to Eisenkot. Despite having sufficient numbers through the Arab-led parties, Eisenkot’s bloc has so far refused to form a formal alliance with them. However, the opposition has signaled openness to partnering with ultra-Orthodox parties, which could provide the necessary seats for a coalition that might include Ra’am with external support from the Joint List.
In response to these developments, Netanyahu delivered a pre-recorded speech on Saturday warning that a government reliant on Islamist parties would destroy Israel from within, drawing comparisons to situations he described in Europe. He accused Arab-led parties of receiving foreign funding ahead of the election, noting record turnout among Palestinian citizens of Israel. Netanyahu renewed his call for a national unity government composed of Zionist parties, an approach Herzog has previously indicated interest in exploring. Eisenkot’s Yashar party countered by urging Likud and its allies to sever ties with what it termed extremists and join a unity government under Eisenkot’s leadership. On Friday, Eisenkot called for an emergency government and did not rule out the formation of a minority administration, focusing initially on the four Jewish opposition parties within the Change bloc: Yashar, Together led by Naftali Bennett, Yisrael Beiteinu led by Avigdor Lieberman, and Democrats led by Yair Golan. Any party accepting his conditions could join at the start or later. Eisenkot has consistently rejected the establishment of a Palestinian state alongside Israel. During his tenure as army chief between 2015 and 2019, he publicly advocated for closer ties with Saudi Arabia to counter Iranian influence, suggesting intelligence sharing with Riyadh to confront Tehran.
This report was produced in the Europe Brief News newsroom.
