Israel’s President has chosen Gadi Eisenkot, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s strongest rival, to try to form a new government following a deadlocked election that left neither candidate with a clear path to power.
Netanyahu, Israel’s longest-serving leader, is fighting to hold onto office after his religious-nationalist coalition lost its majority in the 27 October election but still emerged as the largest bloc in Parliament.
An anti-Netanyahu bloc led by Eisenkot, a former military chief, has refused to join forces with Arab parties that could give it a majority in Israel’s Parliament, the Knesset.
However, Arab leaders, angered by what they view as the racist policies of Netanyahu and his far-right allies, still nominated Eisenkot to try to form a government first, giving him the most endorsements.
"President Herzog has invited Gadi Eisenkot to the President’s Residence, where he will be tasked with forming the government tomorrow," said a spokesperson for Israeli President Isaac Herzog, whose largely ceremonial role includes nominating a candidate to form a coalition after elections.
Weeks of negotiations are expected to follow Eisenkot’s nomination. He has 28 days to try to form a government, with a possible 14-day extension.
His possible routes to power include forming a minority government with outside Arab support, forming a coalition with ultra-Orthodox parties that he and his allies have shunned in the past, or forming a unity government with Netanyahu.
Analysts say all three options are unlikely to take shape. If Eisenkot fails, another candidate can try to form a government, and if that candidate fails, Parliament can nominate another.
There is a deadline of about 100 days for the process. If no one succeeds, another election will be held.
"This is the time to establish a national emergency government. I will do anything possible to prove us worthy," Eisenkot posted on his X account shortly after the president’s announcement.
Likud won the most seats of any single party, with 27 in the 120-seat Knesset, but Netanyahu’s wider religious-nationalist coalition secured only 53 seats in total, falling short of the 61-seat majority required.
Eisenkot’s Yashar party emerged as the second-largest party with 21 seats, while his coalition, spanning four centre-left to right-wing Jewish-led parties, won 48 seats. Two parties representing Israel’s Arab minority won an unprecedented 19 seats.
A son of Moroccan immigrants, Eisenkot, 66, would be the country’s first prime minister from Israel’s Mizrahi community, whose members trace their roots to the Middle East and North Africa.
Reserved and media-shy, Eisenkot entered politics only in 2022. He briefly served in Netanyahu’s wartime Cabinet following Hamas’s 7 October 2023 attack before returning to the Opposition.
From the Opposition, he publicly rebuked Netanyahu over his leadership, including his management of the military campaign in Gaza, and has sworn that he would not serve in a government with him.
Agencies