Eisenkot Given 28 Days to Form Israel's Next Government

Israeli President Isaac Herzog gave opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot the first chance to form a new government on Saturday, after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition lost its parliamentary majority in October elections, according to Al Jazeera.

Eisenkot, a former military chief who now leads the Yashar party, has 28 days to assemble a 61-seat majority in the 120-member Knesset. He can request a 14-day extension if he falls short, Al Jazeera reported.

Why did Herzog choose Eisenkot over Netanyahu?

Herzog made the selection after consultations with political parties following an election that left neither bloc with a governing majority, Al Jazeera reported. Netanyahu's coalition lost its hold on parliament in the October vote, opening the door for a rival to attempt the first move. "Now is the time to form a national emergency government. I will do everything to ensure we are worthy," Eisenkot wrote on X after receiving the mandate.

Who would be in Eisenkot's coalition?

The prospective government spans Eisenkot's Yashar party, Yair Golan's centre-left Democrats, Naftali Bennett's centre-right Together party and Avigdor Lieberman's right-wing Yisrael Beiteinu, Al Jazeera reported. Together those four parties hold 48 seats, 13 short of the 61 needed to govern.

Can Arab-led parties decide the outcome?

Ra'am and the Joint List — a bloc combining Hadash, Ta'al and Balad — jointly hold 19 seats and have endorsed Eisenkot's bid to form a government, according to Al Jazeera. Adding their seats to Eisenkot's four-party bloc would produce a combined anti-Netanyahu camp of 67 seats, comfortably above the majority threshold.

Yet both sides of the negotiation have resisted that math. Eisenkot has ruled out bringing Arab parties directly into his government, Al Jazeera reported, and Lieberman has repeatedly rejected forming a minority administration that depends on their support in the Knesset. That leaves the Arab-led factions in a position to influence the outcome from outside any formal coalition, without a clear mechanism for Eisenkot to use their numbers.

What happens if Eisenkot cannot reach 61 seats?

If the 28-day window — plus any 14-day extension — passes without a government, the mandate to form a coalition can pass to another lawmaker, under the process Al Jazeera described as now underway. Netanyahu, who also lacks a majority on his own, remains a potential alternative if Eisenkot's effort collapses.

Where do the sticking points lie among the opposition?

Al Jazeera reported that Eisenkot's would-be partners hold sharply conflicting positions on national security, religion and the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory — the same fault lines that have fractured past coalitions. Lieberman's rejection of reliance on Arab-led parties sits uneasily next to the Joint List's and Ra'am's declared willingness to back an anti-Netanyahu government, leaving Eisenkot to navigate a bloc that agrees on little beyond opposing the incumbent prime minister.

The next moves will test whether a 66-year-old former general with no prior experience forming a government can hold together partners who, for now, are aligned mainly by what they oppose rather than what they support.