Israel's president, Isaac Herzog, has chosen Gadi Eisenkot — the former military chief of staff who leads the Yashar party and is Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's strongest rival — to try to form a new government, after last month's election left the Knesset deadlocked and neither man with a clear path to power. Herzog's office said he informed Eisenkot on Saturday night "of his intention to task him with forming a government," and the formal appointment will take place at an official ceremony on Sunday at the president's residence in Jerusalem.
Eisenkot answered on X: "Now is the time to form a national emergency government. I will do everything to ensure we are worthy." If he succeeds in building a coalition, he will take over as prime minister from Netanyahu, Israel's longest-serving premier.
The numbers explain the deadlock. Netanyahu's religious-nationalist coalition lost its majority in the October 27 election, but his camp still emerged as the largest bloc with 53 of the Knesset's 120 seats. Eisenkot's wide-ranging opposition bloc won 48. Neither reaches the 61 needed to govern. In the consultations with Herzog, 67 lawmakers recommended Eisenkot against 46 for Netanyahu — the 66-year-old also received the endorsements of both Arab-majority lists, whose unprecedented gains made them potential kingmakers — though it remains unclear whether Eisenkot's bloc would accept their support in forming a government.
Eisenkot, who was the military's chief of staff from 2015 to 2019, has set out to unite Israelis after Netanyahu's divisive tenure. He has vowed to crack down on extremist West Bank settlers who have attacked Palestinians, calling the incidents "Jewish terror" abetted by Netanyahu's government — but he is no dove: he opposes the creation of a Palestinian state and has vowed to end Hamas's rule in Gaza and destroy its military wing. Who ends up governing Israel decides the war in Gaza, the violence in the West Bank, and the security and cost of daily life for every Israeli family — which is why this coalition fight matters far beyond the Knesset.
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