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

Israeli President Isaac Herzog has tasked former army chief Gadi Eisenkot with forming the country’s next government, passing over his rival Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Herzog communicated his decision to Eisenkot on Saturday evening and will formally hand him the mandate at a ceremony on Sunday, a statement from the president’s spokesperson said.

This comes after Herzog held consultations with all political parties this week, to decide who he would grant the chance to form a government after neither side secured a majority in the October 27 general election.

Eisenkot, leader of the Yashar party, was recommended by parties representing 67 lawmakers as opposed to 46 for Netanyahu’s bloc, the statement said.

Eisenkot will have 28 days – with a possible 14-day extension – to build a coalition that holds at least 61 of the Knesset’s 120 seats, the minimum threshold for a government.

In the October election, Eisenkot’s four-party alliance won 48 seats, while Netanyahu’s right-wing and religious bloc secured 53, leaving both short of the 61 needed for a parliamentary majority. Arab-led parties, representing Palestinian citizens of Israel, won a record 19 seats.

The decision on Saturday came hours after Netanyahu warned that a government formed by opposition parties with the support of Arab-led parties would lead to Israel’s collapse.

Eisenkot has ruled out forming a government with the Arab-led parties, which would give him a 67-seat bloc. Winning over the two ultra-Orthodox parties, United Torah Judaism and Shas, would give him exactly 61 seats.

Eisenkot led Israel’s military from 2015 to 2019 and sat as an observer in Netanyahu’s war cabinet for the first eight months of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza.