Israel's president tasks opposition leader Eisenkot with forming government

Israel's president, Isaac Herzog, has tasked opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot with forming a new coalition government. Eisenkot, rather than Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, has been given the first chance to form a government.

A statement from the president's office said Eisenkot was informed of the decision on Saturday evening, and the president will formally hand him the task on Sunday. The statement said Herzog had informed both Eisenkot and Netanyahu of the decision.

Eisenkot is a former military chief and the leader of the centrist Yashar party. In the election to Israel's parliament, the Knesset, held on October 27, neither side won an outright majority. Herzog then held talks with the political parties during the week to decide who should get the first chance to form a government.

The Knesset has 120 seats, and 61 are needed for a majority. In the election, Netanyahu's right-wing Likud party and its far-right and ultra-Orthodox Jewish allies won 53 seats, while Eisenkot's Yashar party and three other Jewish opposition parties in his bloc won 48.

Two Arab-led alliances, the United Arab List and the Joint List, together won 19 seats, a record, following a surge in turnout among Arab voters. That positions them as potential kingmakers. However, all but one of the Jewish parties had pledged before the polls not to work with them to form a government.

After consulting all the parties, Herzog decided to give Eisenkot the first chance. According to the president's office, following consultations with delegations from the incoming Knesset members, Eisenkot received 67 recommendations for the premiership and Netanyahu 46.

The president has broad discretion to pick someone they believe has the best chance of building a coalition and does not have to choose the leader of the party with the most seats.

After receiving the task, Eisenkot wrote on X: "Now is the time to form a national emergency government. I will do everything to ensure we are worthy."

Under the rules, Eisenkot will now have 28 days to try to form a new administration, with a potential 14-day extension. During that time, the parties will negotiate over policy demands and ministerial posts.

The election results pointed to three possible options for forming a government: a national unity administration involving both Netanyahu and Eisenkot, a right-wing coalition involving Netanyahu and defectors from Eisenkot's bloc, or an Eisenkot-led government supported by the Arab parties.

Eisenkot and every member of his bloc bar one had previously refused to enter government with Arab parties, but there has been speculation that an agreement could be reached. He could also attempt to reach a deal with ultra-Orthodox parties, but that too would be difficult.

There is precedent for a unity government. In 2020, following three deadlocked elections, Netanyahu and his centrist rival Benny Gantz agreed a power-sharing deal in which the leadership rotated between the two.

During his consultations with the parties, Herzog had said that to prevent another round of elections and to build a stable government, he expected "factions and their representatives to understand that, in the current reality, not every commitment and promise can be fulfilled".

The rules also set out what happens if Eisenkot fails. In that case, the president would ask another member of the Knesset to try to form a government, who would also have 28 days. If that person also fails, a majority of Knesset members could propose a third candidate, who would have 14 days. If the deadlock still persists, the Knesset would be dissolved and a new election held within 90 days. A caretaker government would run the country in the meantime, led by Netanyahu under the rules.

The election came in the wake of a period of deep political instability in Israel. Between 2019 and 2022, one of the most politically fractured periods in Israeli politics, there were five separate elections as Netanyahu and his rivals struggled time and again to cooperate. Netanyahu, the leader of Likud, has been Israel's prime minister for nearly 19 years.