Herzog Taps Gadi Eisenkot to Form Israel’s Next Government

The Yashar leader received 67 recommendations from Knesset members, compared with 46 for Benjamin Netanyahu. But the mandate is only the first step in a difficult coalition-building process

Gadi Eisenkot has been given the first chance to replace Benjamin Netanyahu as Israel’s prime minister, in a decision by President Isaac Herzog that shifts the initiative to the opposition leader but does not guarantee he can assemble a government. Herzog informed the head of the Yashar party on Saturday evening, Nov. 7, that he would entrust him with the task. The formal handover is scheduled for 5 p.m. Sunday at the President’s Residence in Jerusalem.

The choice followed consultations with representatives of the factions elected to the 26th Knesset. Eisenkot received recommendations from groups representing 67 lawmakers, while 46 backed Netanyahu. The figures give Eisenkot a clear advantage in the presidential consultations, but they do not amount to a ready-made governing majority. He will have 28 days to form a coalition, with the possibility of a further 14-day extension from Herzog.

The procedure leaves several possible routes if Eisenkot fails. He must notify Herzog, who then has three days to decide whether to appoint another candidate or tell the speaker of the Knesset that no viable path to forming a government remains. A second candidate would have 28 days, without an extension. If that attempt also fails, or Herzog declines to nominate anyone else, a 21-day period begins in which at least 61 lawmakers can jointly ask the president to assign the task to another member of parliament. That candidate would have 14 days. If no government emerges from these efforts, the Knesset is dissolved and Israelis return to the polls. Until a new administration wins the confidence of parliament and takes office, Netanyahu’s outgoing government remains in a caretaker role.

Netanyahu has responded by calling for a national unity government, bringing together all parties in what he describes as the national camp and all Zionist political forces willing to defend Israel. He argues that such a government could eliminate the Iranian nuclear threat, preserve Israel as the state of the Jewish people and restore national unity. But his proposal comes with a condition: any coalition should include his existing partners — Likud, the ultra-nationalist Religious Zionism and Otzma Yehudit parties, and the ultra-Orthodox factions. Netanyahu has not specified who should lead that government. With Herzog now giving Eisenkot the first mandate, the immediate task of trying to form the next administration belongs to the opposition leader.

(Photo: © AndKronos)