What happened
Israel’s president, Isaac Herzog, has tasked opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot with forming a new coalition government following last week’s election. Neither Eisenkot’s bloc nor Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s bloc secured a majority in the 120-seat Knesset.
Eisenkot’s centrist Yashar party and three other Jewish opposition parties won 48 seats, while Netanyahu’s Likud party and its far-right and ultra-Orthodox allies won 53 seats. Two Arab-led alliances together won 19 seats, positioning them as potential kingmakers, though most Jewish parties had pledged not to work with them.
After consulting all parties during the week, Herzog decided to give Eisenkot the first chance to form a government. The president’s office said Eisenkot received 67 recommendations for the premiership, compared with 46 for Netanyahu.
Eisenkot now has 28 days to try to build a coalition, with a potential 14-day extension. Writing on X, the former military chief said now is the time to form a national emergency government.
Possible paths include a national unity administration involving both leaders, a right-wing coalition with defectors from Eisenkot’s bloc, or an Eisenkot-led government supported by Arab parties. Eisenkot and nearly all members of his bloc have previously refused to enter government with Arab parties.
Israel has no precedent of a party winning an outright majority, so all governments have been coalitions. The country held five elections between 2019 and 2022 amid repeated failures to form stable governments.
