Eisenkot Gets Mandate to Form Israel's Government, Open to Netanyahu Joining

Israel's President Isaac Herzog formally tasked opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot with forming the country's next government at a ceremony in his Jerusalem office on Sunday. Eisenkot, Netanyahu's main rival in October's election, didn't shut the door on his old boss — he said he was open to including the prime minister in his coalition, and nodded at far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich too.

Addressing Likud and the Religious Zionist Party directly, Eisenkot said: if they truly believe this is a time for unity, as they told the president, he can't conceive of a reason they wouldn't back a government under his leadership and the principles he's laid out. He promised to act in the public's interest and represent all parts of Israeli society. The clock is ticking: he has six weeks.

Herzog used the moment to flag a shifting world. He warned of uncertainties after the November 3 US midterm elections, which delivered wins to several figures critical of Israel and of American military support. The State of Israel needs a stable government, Herzog said, pointing to the new political reality in Washington.

The seat count explains the scramble. Eisenkot's four-party alliance took 48 seats on October 27, while Netanyahu's right-wing and religious bloc won 53 — both short of the 61 needed for a majority. Arab-led parties, representing Palestinian citizens of Israel, won a record 19 seats and endorsed Eisenkot for the mandate, even though he served as an observer in Netanyahu's war cabinet for the first eight months of the Gaza war that began in October 2023 and led the military from 2015 to 2019.

Eisenkot has ruled out governing with those Arab-led parties, which would hand him a 67-seat bloc. Instead, winning over the two ultra-Orthodox parties, United Torah Judaism and Shas, gets him to exactly 61. He could also govern with fewer seats if he survives a parliamentary confidence vote.

Al Jazeera's Nour Odeh, reporting from Ramallah, said Netanyahu still has time to derail Eisenkot's efforts and sabotage attempts to secure that vote. Netanyahu remains caretaker prime minister and would be next in line for the mandate if Eisenkot fails — and if Netanyahu then fails, elections would be called, keeping him in place as caretaker. Many of his critics say that's exactly the plan, Odeh noted, leaving the big question: does the opposition really want Netanyahu gone, or is its opposition to Palestinian Israelis strong enough to risk keeping him in power by heading back to the ballot box?