Israeli President Isaac Herzog announced on Saturday that he will task Gadi Eisenkot, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's main rival, with forming the country's next government, moving the former military chief one step closer to ending Netanyahu's long hold on power. The mandate will be formally handed over at a ceremony at the President's Residence in Jerusalem on Sunday at 5 p.m., Herzog's office said.
Eisenkot, a retired army chief who led the centrist Yashar party in the October 27 election, will have 28 days to assemble a coalition, with a possible 14-day extension. The decision follows two days of consultations last week with every party elected to the Knesset, in which Eisenkot secured the recommendations of 67 members of the incoming parliament, against 46 for Netanyahu. Seven members, from the ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism party, recommended no one.
The announcement is a significant setback for Netanyahu, Israel's longest-serving leader, who lost his parliamentary majority in the election. But Herzog's decision does not by itself remove him from office. As CNN put it, Eisenkot now has "a mandate and a parliamentary majority on paper, but not yet a governing coalition" — and the path from one to the other is fraught with divisions inside the opposition itself.
What Herzog decided
Herzog completed his consultations with the Knesset factions on Thursday and had said he would announce his decision on Sunday. After further talks with party leaders over the weekend, including separate meetings with Eisenkot and Netanyahu, he informed both men of his choice on Saturday evening. According to Yashar, the 67 recommendations Eisenkot received are the largest number given to any candidate since 2015.
The numbers expose the new shape of Israeli politics. Netanyahu's bloc holds 53 of the Knesset's 120 seats; the Zionist opposition bloc holds 48; and the Arab parties hold a record 19 — 11 for the Joint List and eight for Ra'am. Both Arab parties recommended Eisenkot, even though his own conditions for joining a government effectively rule them out of the cabinet. Their recommendations gave him his majority on paper, and they could still support a government from outside parliament's cabinet room, providing what CNN described as a parliamentary safety net.
One detail from the consultations underlined how far Netanyahu's grip has loosened: United Torah Judaism, a traditional ally, declined to recommend him. Until a new government wins the Knesset's confidence and takes office, Netanyahu's outgoing government remains in place in a caretaker capacity.
The coalition puzzle
Eisenkot is pushing to form what he calls a "national emergency government" and to swear in a minority government as soon as possible. It would comprise the four Jewish opposition parties, which together hold 48 seats: his own Yashar; Together, led by former prime ministers Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid; Avigdor Liberman's Yisrael Beiteinu; and the left-wing Democrats, led by Yair Golan.
He has set four conditions for joining a government: recognising Israel as a Jewish, democratic, liberal and egalitarian state; commitment to the values of the Declaration of Independence; universal service, whether military, national or civilian; and recognition of Hamas as a terrorist organisation. The last condition effectively rules out the Arab parties from sitting in the cabinet, but they could still back the government from outside. Israeli law requires only a simple majority to establish a government; removing one is far harder, needing an absolute majority of 61 votes in favour of an alternative government.
Eisenkot's central obstacle is Liberman. The Yisrael Beiteinu leader, a former defence, foreign affairs and finance minister, has ruled out any government dependent on the Arab parties. A minority government, he argues, will be short-lived and will, in the long run, only strengthen Netanyahu. "We'll have Netanyahu come back with 70 seats for another four years, and from there it's a short road to annihilation," Liberman wrote on X on Friday, according to CNN.
Instead, Liberman proposed a different route. Dropping his years-long veto on the ultra-Orthodox parties, he urged a "maximum effort" to form a coalition of 61 lawmakers with the two ultra-Orthodox parties, Shas and United Torah Judaism, and without the Joint List and Ra'am — adding that once it is formed, three or four Likud lawmakers might defect. That plan, however, clashes with one of the opposition's core campaign commitments: ending the blanket draft exemption for ultra-Orthodox men from mandatory military service. The ultra-Orthodox parties are pressing for legislation that would enshrine the exemption, and Eisenkot, Liberman and the rest of the opposition pledged universal service throughout the campaign. One of the ultra-Orthodox parties also remains loyal to Netanyahu.
Background: the October 27 election left neither camp with a clear path to power. Netanyahu's Likud-led bloc lost its majority, while the opposition won the most recommendations only with Arab-party support — a combination no Israeli government has ever been built on. The result is the most complicated government-formation process Israel has faced in years, with the mandate, the Knesset speakership and the draft-exemption question all in play at once.
Netanyahu's response
Netanyahu, who lost his parliamentary majority, is applying heavy pressure against any Jewish-Arab political cooperation. He is challenging the election results and claims the vote was "stolen" by Arab parties through bribery and foreign funding. His loyalist Shin Bet director, David Zini, has been pushing to investigate Arab politicians, without any public evidence, CNN reported.
In a video statement on Saturday, Netanyahu warned that if a minority government is formed with the Arab parties' support, Israel will "simply not survive." Instead, he called for a national unity government with his entire bloc, which includes far-right and ultra-Orthodox parties, appealing to "all Zionist parties that want to preserve our one and only state of the Jewish people."
"A situation in which a caretaker prime minister in the minority, who has lost the trust of the people in such an extreme way, continues to operate the security system and law enforcement authorities, is a dangerous situation that must not continue even for one more day."
That was Eisenkot, writing on X on Friday, in his case for forming a government as quickly as possible. He dismissed Netanyahu's message as a "pathetic spin." In a statement, the Yashar party said: "If the Likud wants a broad unity government, it is more than welcome to announce the dissolution of the alliance with the extremists and enter a government under Prime Minister Eisenkot."
What is not established: Netanyahu's claim that the election was "stolen" has not been supported by public evidence, and no election authority has endorsed it. Likewise, Eisenkot's 67 recommendations are not a coalition: they are pledges of support for him to try, and the Arab parties' backing does not commit them to joining — or even to sustaining — a government whose own conditions exclude them from the cabinet.
What happens next
| Step | When | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Mandate ceremony | Sunday, 5 p.m., President's Residence, Jerusalem | Eisenkot formally receives the task of forming a government |
| Knesset sworn in | Tuesday | New parliament takes its seats; opposition aims to replace Netanyahu's speaker |
| Coalition talks | 28 days from Sunday, plus a possible 14-day extension | Eisenkot negotiates cabinet posts, budgets and policies |
| If Eisenkot fails | After the deadline | The mandate passes to Netanyahu for another four weeks |
| If that fails too | Within three days of the second failure | Herzog decides whether to name another candidate or tell the Knesset no government is possible; a 21-day period for 61 MKs to request a candidate follows |
| Last resort | If all attempts fail | The Knesset is dissolved and another election is held |
Eisenkot's first test comes on Tuesday, with the swearing-in of the new Knesset. The opposition intends to replace Netanyahu's Knesset speaker, weakening his grip on power and allowing the opposition parties to begin taking actions such as forming a state commission of inquiry into the security failures that led to the October 7, 2023, attack by Hamas.
Frequently asked questions
Does this make Eisenkot prime minister?
No. Herzog's mandate gives Eisenkot the first opportunity to form a government. He must still assemble a coalition that wins a Knesset confidence vote. Until then, Netanyahu remains prime minister in a caretaker government.
Why 67 recommendations if he needs only 61 seats?
The 67 figure counts recommendations from factions, including the 19 Arab-party members whose parties would not sit in Eisenkot's cabinet under his own conditions. A government needs a simple majority of those voting to be established, but a coalition that depends on outside support from parties excluded from the cabinet would be fragile — which is why Liberman is pushing for a 61-seat coalition built differently.
What is the "national emergency government" Eisenkot wants?
A minority government of the four Jewish opposition parties — 48 seats — sworn in quickly and sustained from outside by Arab-party support, framed by Eisenkot as an emergency response to a caretaker prime minister who, in his words, has lost the people's trust. Critics inside the opposition, above all Liberman, argue it would be short-lived and could hand Netanyahu a stronger comeback.
What happens if Eisenkot cannot form a government?
Under the Basic Law: The Government, the mandate then passes to Netanyahu for another four weeks. If he also fails, Herzog must decide within three days whether to assign the task to another member of Knesset or inform the speaker that he sees no possibility of forming a government. After that, 61 MKs get 21 days to jointly request a candidate of their own, who would have 14 days. If every route fails, the Knesset is dissolved and Israel goes back to the polls.
Why does the Knesset speaker matter?
The speaker controls the parliamentary agenda. Replacing Netanyahu's speaker on Tuesday would let the opposition start moving on its priorities — including a state commission of inquiry into the October 7, 2023, security failures — even before a new government is formed.
Key takeaways
- President Herzog will formally task Gadi Eisenkot with forming Israel's next government on Sunday, after Eisenkot won 67 Knesset recommendations to Netanyahu's 46.
- Eisenkot has 28 days, extendable by 14, to build a coalition — but he has a majority on paper, not a government, and his own conditions exclude the Arab parties whose support gave him that majority.
- His plan for a 48-seat minority "national emergency government" faces resistance from Avigdor Liberman, who wants a 61-seat coalition with the ultra-Orthodox parties instead.
- Netanyahu calls the election "stolen" and warns a minority government backed by Arab parties would mean Israel "simply will not survive"; no public evidence supports the fraud claim.
- The first test comes Tuesday, when the new Knesset is sworn in and the opposition aims to replace Netanyahu's speaker.
What to watch next is the ceremony itself on Sunday evening, then Tuesday's swearing-in and the speaker vote — the first concrete test of whether the opposition's paper majority can act as a bloc. After that, the clock that matters is Eisenkot's 28 days: whether he can turn 67 recommendations into a government, or whether the mandate passes to Netanyahu and Israel slides toward yet another election.
