Israeli president invites Gadi Eisenkot to try and form a majority government

• Eisenkot’s Yashar Party won 21 seats, compared with 27 for Netanyahu’s Likud, in the 120-member Knesset. Netanyahu’s ruling bloc secured 53 seats, while the Opposition bloc won 48. The remaining 19 went to Arab-led parties. Neither bloc reached the 61 seats required for a majority

• Under Israel’s Basic Law the president nominates a member of the Knesset, who, in his opinion, is most likely to cobble up majority support. Chosen by President Herzog, Eisenkot has 28 days to form a government with an additional 14 days at the discretion of the president. If he fails, another member could be asked to try. The exercise may continue for 100 days

• Neither Netanyahu nor Eisenkot are ready to accept the Arab parties, which have 19 seats, in the government or accept their outside support. Arab parties have already extended their support to Eisenkot. However, chances of Netanyahu and Eisenkot joining hands is one of the options on the table

On Saturday, 7 November, Gadi Eisenkot, a former military chief and Benjamin Netanyahu’s main political rival, was chosen by Israeli President Isaac Herzog to try to form a coalition government. Netanyahu’s ruling bloc lost its majority in the 27 October election, although it emerged as the largest bloc in the Knesset with 53 seats. The Opposition bloc led by Eisenkot secured 48 seats, while Arab-led parties won the remaining 19.

Arab parties with 19 seats have already endorsed the opposition bloc and extended their outside support to Eisenkot. Most of the Jewish parties, however, are averse to taking help from the Arabs. Options before Eisenkot are to form a minority government with outside support of Arabs, try and form a coalition with ultra-orthodox Jewish parties Eisenkot and allies had opposed earlier or forge a unity government with Netanyahu.

If Eisenkot succeeds, which appears unlikely at the moment, the son of Moroccan immigrants would be Israel’s first prime minister from Israel’s Mizrahi community, Jews who trace their roots to West Asia and North Africa. Eisenkot entered politics in 2022 and served in Netanyahu’s wartime cabinet following Hamas’ October 2023 attack on Israel before returning to the opposition. He rebuked Netanyahu for the military campaign in Gaza, and has sworn that he would not serve in government with him. A son and two nephews of the Opposition leader were killed in Gaza.

There is not much to choose though between Netanyahu and Eisenkot as far as their positions on Palestine and Arabs are concerned. During the election campaign too Eisenkot repeatedly cited his doctrine of responding to attacks with disproportionate force. He however has criticised settler violence against Palestinians, which has surged since 2023, raising tensions in Israel’s ties with Western states, and he opposes Netanyahu’s far-right coalition partners Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, who have both faced sanctions by some western countries for inciting violence against Palestinians.