Eisenkot wins backing of 67 MPs, gets government formation mandate in Israel

• President Isaac Herzog has asked Gadi Eisenkot to form Israel’s next government after 67 lawmakers recommended him, against 46 backing Benjamin Netanyahu

• Eisenkot has 28 days to assemble a government and win parliamentary approval, with a possible 14-day extension

• Arab parties helped secure his nomination, but opposition to governing alongside them presents a major obstacle to a coalition agreement

Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Sunday asked Yashar party leader Gadi Eisenkot to form the country’s next government, handing the former military chief a chance to replace Benjamin Netanyahu after securing recommendations from a majority of lawmakers.

Eisenkot received the backing of 67 members of the 120-seat Knesset, compared with 46 for Netanyahu. Seven lawmakers from United Torah Judaism, a party within Netanyahu’s bloc, declined to recommend either candidate.

The mandate gives Eisenkot 28 days to negotiate a government and secure parliament’s approval. He can seek a further 14 days from Herzog if he needs more time.

His nomination follows the 27 October election, which was widely viewed as a test of Netanyahu’s leadership but left neither of the principal rival blocs with a parliamentary majority.

Netanyahu’s alliance won 53 seats, while the anti-Netanyahu grouping, known as the Change Bloc, secured 48. Arab parties took the remaining 19 seats, giving them a pivotal role in determining who would receive the first opportunity to form a government.

Although Netanyahu’s Likud emerged as the largest individual party, the decision by United Torah Judaism’s seven lawmakers to withhold a recommendation reduced his support in the presidential consultations to 46.

Speaking at the President’s Residence in Jerusalem, Herzog said he had consulted representatives of every faction elected to the 26th Knesset before making his decision under the Basic Law governing the formation of a government.

The discussions, which were livestreamed, exposed deep disagreements within Israeli politics and society, he said. Nevertheless, the recommendations established that Eisenkot had majority support on the question of who stood the better chance of forming a government capable of winning parliament’s confidence.

Herzog consequently entrusted the Yashar leader and former Israel Defence Forces chief with the task.

Eisenkot accepted the mandate with a warning about the scale of the challenges facing the country. He cited continuing wars, military objectives that remained unmet and a severe diplomatic crisis.

He also said some of Israel’s closest allies were reassessing their relationships with the country, an apparent reference to tensions with the United States.

Promising patience, humility and composure in the negotiations ahead, Eisenkot committed himself to a Jewish, democratic, egalitarian, liberal and secure Israel.

His immediate challenge, however, is to translate support for his nomination into agreement on a governing coalition.

The Joint List and Ra’am, the two Arab groupings holding 19 seats between them, recommended Eisenkot with the stated aim of removing Netanyahu from power. Their backing brought his total to 67, but does not by itself resolve disagreements over the composition of a future government.

Most parties across both the Netanyahu and Eisenkot camps have expressed opposition to serving alongside Arab parties. Within the Change Bloc, the Democrats have been an exception to that position.

A central dispute concerns the Arab parties’ reluctance to designate Hamas a terrorist organisation. That stance remains a major barrier to agreement with Jewish parties following the Hamas-led attacks of 7 October 2023, in which around 1,200 people were killed.

Eisenkot must now bridge those divisions to turn a parliamentary majority favouring his nomination into a government able to command its confidence.

With PTI inputs