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Israeli President Isaac Herzog has tasked Gadi Eizenkot, the main rival of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with trying to form a government after no candidate secured a clear advantage in the October 27 election, AnewZ reports. The decision was announced on Saturday.
The move is considered a major setback for Netanyahu, Israel’s longest-serving prime minister. His religious-nationalist coalition lost its majority in the election but remained the largest bloc in parliament.
The president’s spokesperson said Herzog had invited Eizenkot to the presidential residence and that he would receive the mandate to form a government on Sunday. Although the presidency is largely ceremonial, the president has the authority to choose which candidate will try to form a governing coalition after an election.
Eizenkot, a former army chief, wrote on social media platform X: “Now is the time to form a national emergency government. I will do everything I can to prove worthy of this task.”
Election results and possible coalition paths
Eizenkot has ruled out forming a coalition with Israel’s Arab parties. Their support, however, could have given him a parliamentary majority. Arab party leaders endorsed Eizenkot’s candidacy, giving him the highest number of expressions of support. They have voiced opposition to what they consider the racist policies of Netanyahu and his far-right allies.
Netanyahu’s Likud party won 27 seats in the 120-member Knesset, making it the largest single party. But his religious-nationalist coalition secured only 53 seats, eight short of the 61 needed for a majority.
Eizenkot’s Yashar party came second with 21 seats. An alliance of four Jewish-led parties spanning the center-left to the right won a total of 48 seats. Two parties representing Israel’s Arab minority secured a record 19 seats.
Eizenkot faces difficult coalition negotiations and has three possible routes to forming a government: establish a minority government relying on Arab parties for support in key parliamentary votes; form a coalition with ultra-Orthodox parties, despite having previously avoided such alliances; or reach an agreement with Netanyahu on a unity government.
Analysts consider all three options unlikely, increasing the prospect of an early election. Eizenkot has an initial 28 days to form a government, with the deadline extendable by a further 14 days. This gives him a maximum of 42 days to build a coalition.
If Eizenkot fails, another candidate may be given the chance to form a government. If that attempt also fails, parliament may nominate a further candidate. The process could take about 100 days; if no government is formed by then, Israel will have to hold a new election.
Eizenkot’s political and military career
Eizenkot, 66, is the son of a family that immigrated from Morocco. If appointed prime minister, he would be the first Israeli leader from the Mizrahi Jewish community, whose ancestors came from the Middle East and North Africa. Known for his reserved manner and limited media presence, he entered politics in 2022.
After Hamas led the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, Eizenkot briefly served in Netanyahu’s war cabinet before returning to the opposition. Since then, he has openly criticized Netanyahu, particularly over his handling of Israel’s military operations in Gaza, and has pledged never to serve in a government led by him.
A personal tragedy has also shaped Eizenkot’s public profile: since 2023, one of his sons and two of his nephews have been killed in fighting in Gaza.
During the election campaign, he highlighted his military experience and his role in developing the “Dahiya doctrine,” which envisages responding to attacks with disproportionate force. Eizenkot applied this approach as a commander during Israel’s 2006 war in Lebanon against the Iran-backed Hezbollah.
Eizenkot has also condemned settler violence against Palestinians, which has risen sharply since 2023 and strained Israel’s relations with Western governments. He has distanced himself from Netanyahu’s far-right allies Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich. Both have faced sanctions from some Western countries over allegations of inciting violence against Palestinians.
Eizenkot’s first task is to turn the support he received in parliament into a workable government agreement. If successive attempts to form a government fail, Israel could hold a new election in about 100 days.
