Eisenkot gets mandate to form Israel's next government

Gadi Eisenkot has been chosen to build Israel's next government. President Isaac Herzog informed the former military chief of the decision on Saturday evening. Herzog will formally present the mandate during a ceremony on Sunday. This move bypasses current Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The selection followed consultations between Herzog and various political parties throughout the week. Neither major bloc secured a clear majority in the general election held on October 27. The president tasked Eisenkot with assembling a cabinet after reviewing the number of recommendations from lawmakers.

A total of 67 members of the Knesset endorsed Eisenkot. This group included representatives from Arab-led parties. In contrast, only 46 lawmakers supported Netanyahu. Eisenkot leads the Yashar party. He now has 28 days to form a coalition. He may receive a 14-day extension if needed.

To form a government, Eisenkot must command at least 61 seats in the 120-seat parliament. The October election results left the legislature divided. Eisenkot’s four-party alliance won 48 seats. Netanyahu’s coalition of right-wing and religious parties secured 53 seats. Both groups fell short of the 61-seat majority required to govern independently.

Arab-led parties achieved a record high by winning 19 seats in the recent election. Eisenkot has indicated he does not intend to include these parties in his cabinet. Their support would technically give him a bloc of 67 seats. He is instead focusing on winning over two ultra-Orthodox parties, United Torah Judaism and Shas. Their support would bring his total to exactly 61 seats.

If Eisenkot cannot reach 61 seats, he may form a smaller government with fewer than 61 seats. This alternative requires him to pass a parliamentary confidence vote. If he fails to construct a viable government within the allotted time, Herzog will nominate a second candidate. A parliamentary majority can support a third nominee if the second attempt fails. That candidate would have a final 14 days to form a government. If all attempts fail, a new election will be called within 90 days.

Netanyahu will remain in place as a caretaker prime minister if a new election is required. In a prerecorded video released hours before the announcement, Netanyahu warned that a government dependent on Arab-led parties would lead to the state’s collapse. He argued that reliance on Islamists would dismantle Israel from within.

Ahmad Tibi, a senior member of the Joint List, described the decision as expected. The Joint List is a coalition of Arab-led parties holding 11 seats. Tibi expressed concern that the president might have pursued a national unity government involving power sharing with Netanyahu. Instead, the Arab-led parties granted Eisenkot a considerable margin of support. Tibi believes Eisenkot is moving toward a minority government that relies on external support from the Arab parties.

Tibi stated that his group prioritizes ending the government led by Netanyahu, Itamar Ben-Gvir, and Bezalel Smotrich. He acknowledged this outcome is not ideal for his group but viewed it as necessary. In response to Netanyahu’s critique, Tibi called the Prime Minister the biggest terrorist in Israel and the region. He cited Netanyahu’s support for what he termed Jewish terrorism in the West Bank and Palestinian territories.

Eisenkot served as Israel’s military chief from 2015 to 2019. He was an observer in Netanyahu’s war cabinet for the first eight months of the war in Gaza that began in October 2023. Al Jazeera correspondent Nour Odeh reported from Ramallah in the occupied West Bank. Odeh described the president’s choice as the predictable route given the high number of recommendations Eisenkot received. The challenging work begins now for Eisenkot to build a government capable of passing a confidence vote.