Gadi Eisenkot to be tasked with forming Israel's new government

Israel's president decided on Saturday (7 November) to task Gadi Eisenkot, the main rival of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with forming a new government. President Isaac Herzog took the decision after a deadlock over government formation following the election.

Netanyahu, Israel's longest-serving prime minister, is fighting to stay in power. In the 27 October election, his religious-nationalist bloc lost its majority, although it remained the largest bloc in parliament.

Eisenkot, a former army chief, had refused to form a coalition with the Arab parties. But with their support, a parliamentary majority is possible. Arab leaders, angered by the racist policies of Netanyahu and his far-right allies, backed giving Eisenkot the first chance to form a government. As a result, he received more support than any other candidate.

A spokesperson for President Isaac Herzog said the president had invited Eisenkot, leader of the opposition bloc, to the president's residence, where he will be given the task of forming a government tomorrow.

In a post on the social media platform X, Eisenkot wrote that it was time to form a national emergency government. "We will do our utmost to ensure that we are worthy of it," he wrote.

Weeks of long negotiations are expected after he is given the task. He will have 28 days to form a government, with a possible extension of 14 more days.

Eisenkot has a few paths to power: forming a minority government with the Arab parties' votes on key issues, forming a government with the ultra-Orthodox Jewish parties he and his allies had previously refused to join with, or forming a national unity government with Netanyahu.

Analysts, however, believe none of the three possibilities is very likely to materialise. If Eisenkot fails, another candidate will be able to try to form a government. If that candidate also fails, parliament will be able to nominate someone else. There is a time limit of about 100 days to complete the whole process. If no one can form a government within that time, the country will go to another election.

In the 120-seat Israeli parliament, the Knesset, Netanyahu's Likud Party won the most seats as a single party, 27. But his religious-nationalist bloc has 53 seats, fewer than the 61 needed to form a government. Eisenkot's Yashar Party, with 21 seats, became the second-largest party. His bloc, made up of four Jewish-led parties ranging from the centre-left to the right, won 48 seats in total. The two parties representing Israel's Arab minority won a record 19 seats.

Eisenkot, 66, the son of a family of immigrants from Morocco, could become the first prime minister from Israel's Mizrahi community. Jews whose ancestors came from the Middle East and North Africa belong to the Mizrahi community.

Reserved by nature and distant from the media, Eisenkot entered politics in 2022. After the Hamas attack on Israel on 7 October 2023, he served briefly in Netanyahu's war cabinet. He later returned to the opposition.

While in opposition, Eisenkot publicly criticised Netanyahu's leadership and the conduct of the military operation in Gaza. He has also pledged never to join any government with Netanyahu.

The deaths of members of his family after 2023 are also linked to Eisenkot's public support. One of his sons and two of his nephews were killed fighting in Gaza.

During the election campaign, Eisenkot highlighted his security and military experience. He spoke of his "Dahiyeh Doctrine", under which an attack is answered with disproportionate force. He applied the doctrine as a commander during Israel's war against Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon in 2006.

Since 2023, Eisenkot has criticised the rise in violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinians. That has also created tension in Israel's relations with Western countries.

He also opposes Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, two key leaders of Netanyahu's far-right bloc. Several Western countries have imposed sanctions on the two leaders over accusations of inciting violence against Palestinians.