Israel’s president taps Eisenkot to form government

Israeli President Isaac Herzog gave opposition candidate Gadi Eisenkot the first chance to form a government Saturday night after an election left neither Eisenkot nor Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with a clear majority.

Eisenkot, a former military chief, led a bloc of parties seeking to oust Netanyahu, Israel’s longest-serving prime minister, in the Oct. 27 vote. Representatives from most of the country’s main parties recommended Eisenkot for the task during lengthy consultations with Herzog this week.

The decision is a setback for Netanyahu, but it does not settle who will govern. Eisenkot must assemble a coalition in a divided parliament, where support from Arab-majority parties could prove decisive.

Shortly before Herzog’s announcement, Netanyahu called for a “national unity government” in a video statement. He warned against “hastily swearing in a government with terrorist supporters,” an apparent reference to Arab-led parties that have backed Eisenkot. Netanyahu and his allies have repeatedly portrayed those parties as a threat to national security.

Eisenkot has indicated that he would be willing to work with Arab-led parties under certain conditions, including that they refer to Hamas as a terrorist group that needs to be destroyed. His party, Yashar, criticized Netanyahu’s video in a statement on X and urged members of Netanyahu’s party, Likud, to disavow their alliance with “radical parties.” The phrase was seen as a reference to parties in Netanyahu’s religious-nationalist coalition. Yashar said Eisenkot would include only parties and lawmakers who support its principles, including its position on Hamas.

The coalition arithmetic is tight. According to CBS News, the four parties in the main bloc opposing Netanyahu won 48 seats in the 120-seat Knesset, while Netanyahu’s bloc won 53. Arab-majority parties won an unprecedented 19 seats after their highest turnout ever, CBS reported. Neither of the two main blocs can command a majority on its own.

The heads of the two largest Arab parties have said they would help Eisenkot’s bloc remove Netanyahu, according to CBS News. But most of the Jewish-led parties opposing Netanyahu had pledged before the election not to rely on Arab parties’ support to form a government, the outlet reported.

Netanyahu has also alleged, without presenting evidence, that some Arab countries interfered in the election. CBS News reported that Din Livne, acting director-general of the Central Elections Committee, rejected claims of widespread election irregularities in a Thursday letter to a committee member. “There is no basis to the claims regarding a systematic compromise of the integrity of the elections,” Livne wrote.

Netanyahu will remain caretaker prime minister until a new government is formed, CBS News reported. If coalition talks fail, Israel would have to hold another election, with Netanyahu remaining in office in the meantime. CBS also reported that Eisenkot’s bloc and the Arab parties could begin passing laws once the new Knesset is sworn in, even if no government has been formed.