Israel’s president picks Eisenkot over Netanyahu to form next government

What the report says

Israeli President Isaac Herzog has formally given former military chief Gadi Eisenkot the mandate to try to form Israel’s next government, sidelining Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the process. According to Al Jazeera’s reporting, Herzog made the decision after consulting political parties following the October 27 general election, in which no camp won a governing majority.

Herzog is reported to have informed Eisenkot on Saturday evening and is expected to present the mandate at a ceremony on Sunday. Eisenkot, who leads the Yashar party, has 28 days to assemble a coalition with at least 61 seats in the 120-member Knesset, with a possible 14-day extension if needed. The president’s office said parties backing Eisenkot represented 67 lawmakers, compared with 46 supporting Netanyahu’s bloc.

The election left both main camps short of a majority: Eisenkot’s four-party alliance won 48 seats, while Netanyahu’s right-wing and religious bloc took 53. Arab-led parties won a record 19 seats, but Eisenkot has said he will not form a government with their support, meaning his path to a majority would likely require backing from the ultra-Orthodox parties United Torah Judaism and Shas.

Eisenkot, a former Israeli army chief from 2015 to 2019, also served as an observer in Netanyahu’s war cabinet for the first months of the Gaza war. The decision matters because it opens a new round of coalition negotiations at a time of political deadlock and heightened tensions in Israel.