Israel's president tasks opposition leader Eisenkot with forming government

What the report says

Israel’s president, Isaac Herzog, has asked opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot to try to assemble a new governing coalition after last week’s election produced another hung parliament, the BBC reported. Neither Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s bloc nor Eisenkot’s alliance won enough seats in the 120-member Knesset to govern alone.

Under Israel’s system, coalition talks are required because no party has ever won an outright majority. According to the BBC, Netanyahu’s Likud and its allies won 53 seats, while Eisenkot’s centrist Yashar party and partners won 48. Two Arab-led blocs took 19 seats, raising the possibility that they could influence the outcome, although most Jewish parties had ruled out working with them before the vote.

Herzog said Eisenkot would get the first chance to form a government and has 28 days to do so, with a possible 14-day extension. The president’s office said Eisenkot received more recommendations from incoming lawmakers than Netanyahu, and Herzog has broad discretion in choosing whom to task with forming a coalition. Eisenkot said on X that it was time for a national emergency government.

The result leaves several paths open, including a unity government, a Netanyahu-led coalition with defections from the opposition, or an Eisenkot-led arrangement. The BBC noted that coalition deadlock has repeatedly shaped Israeli politics in recent years, including a previous power-sharing deal in 2020.