Herzog Tasks Eisenkot With Forming Israeli Government
The former military chief has six weeks to build a coalition after the Oct. 27 election left no clear winner.
By Neha Kapoor ·
Israeli President Isaac Herzog announced Saturday night that Gadi Eisenkot will attempt to form a governing coalition. The decision gives the opposition candidate the first chance to assemble a parliamentary majority following the Oct. 27 election.
Eisenkot, a former military chief who challenged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the recent vote, responded quickly to the news. He posted on his X account that the moment required a national emergency government and that he would do everything possible to prove his coalition worthy of the task.
The former general has six weeks to complete the process. Representatives from most major parties spoke with the president this week and recommended Eisenkot for the role. Building a stable majority remains difficult in a deeply divided country that has been at war for three years since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attacks.
Neither Eisenkot’s bloc nor Netanyahu’s Likud party won a clear majority in the election. Arab-led parties made historic gains in the vote and now hold key leverage as potential kingmakers. An Arab party has served in a governing coalition only once in Israel’s history, making any new alliance politically sensitive for Eisenkot after the prolonged conflict in Gaza.
Netanyahu and his allies lost their parliamentary majority in the recent election. The prime minister has campaigned against an Eisenkot-led alliance with Arab parties, making claims that those groups stole the election. In a video statement issued shortly before Herzog’s announcement, Netanyahu called for a national unity government. He warned against hastily swearing in a government that includes supporters of terrorists, a phrase he uses to describe the Arab-led parties.
Eisenkot has signaled openness to partnering with Arab parties under specific conditions. These conditions include formally designating Hamas as a terrorist group that must be destroyed. Netanyahu’s Likud is the single largest party in parliament, but the two leaders hold deep differences on key issues. These include Netanyahu’s reliance on religious parties that demand draft exemptions for ultra-Orthodox men and his opposition to a formal investigation into the security failures of Oct. 7.
Eisenkot’s party, Yashar, released a statement criticizing the prime minister’s video remarks. The statement urged Likud members to disavow their alliance with radical parties, a reference to the far-right groups in Netanyahu’s base. The statement asserted that Eisenkot would only include parties and parliament members who support his party’s core principles.
