A setback for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his main rival will be tasked with forming the next Israeli government, moving one step closer to ousting Israel’s longest-serving leader, although the path remains complicated.
Gadi Eisenkot, a retired military commander who led the centrist Yashar party in the October 27 election, will have up to six weeks to form a coalition government to replace Prime Minister Netanyahu. But his path to power is fraught with political obstacles and divisions within the opposition.
President Isaac Herzog will formally authorize Eisenkot to form a cabinet on Sunday, his office said in a statement. Herzog’s decision came after two days of consultations with all political parties elected in parliament last week.
Eisenkot secured the support of 67 incoming parliamentarians, including 19 from the two Arab parties. Prime Minister Netanyahu received only 46 nominations. Netanyahu’s traditional ally, United Torah Judaism, rejected his nomination, exposing significant cracks in his once-loyal alliance during the talks.
But Mr. Herzog’s decision does not automatically remove Mr. Netanyahu from power. Eisenkot has a mandate on paper and a parliamentary majority, but has not yet formed a coalition government.
Eisenkot has established what he calls a “national emergency government” and aims to form a minority government as soon as possible. It will be made up of four Jewish opposition parties, with a total of 48 seats. It is led by former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and former Prime Minister Yair Lapid. Yisrael Beiteinu, led by Avigdor Liberman, and the Left Democratic Party, led by Yair Golan.
He set four conditions for participation: recognition of Israel as a Jewish, democratic, liberal, and egalitarian state; a commitment to the values of the Declaration of Independence; universal service for military, civilian, and civilian personnel; and recognition of Hamas as a terrorist organization.
The last condition effectively precludes Arab parties from serving in the cabinet. But it is possible to provide a parliamentary safety net and support the government from outside. Israeli law requires only a simple majority to form a government. Eliminating one is much more difficult and requires an absolute majority of 61 votes in favor of an alternative government. (The number of seats in the National Diet is 120.)
Eisenkot’s central obstacle is Avigdor Liberman. Yisrael Beitenu’s leader, who also served as defense, foreign and finance minister, has rejected any government that relies on Arab parties. He argues that a minority government will be short-lived and will only strengthen Netanyahu in the long run. “We’ll give Prime Minister Netanyahu four more years and 70 seats and bring him back. From there it’s a short road to destruction,” Liberman wrote in Friday’s X.
Instead, Liberman suggested a different route. It called for “maximum efforts” to be made to form a 61-member coalition with the two ultra-Orthodox parties, Shas and United Torah Judaism, without the Joint List and Rahm, waiving a longstanding veto over ultra-Orthodox parties. He added that once formed, three or four MPs could leave Likud.
But the plan clashes with one of the opposition’s core promises: abolishing the blanket exemption of ultra-Orthodox men from compulsory military service. Ultra-Orthodox parties are calling for a bill that specifies exemptions, and opposition politicians including Eisenkot and Liberman have promised universal health coverage during their election campaigns. Furthermore, one of the ultra-Orthodox parties remains loyal to Prime Minister Netanyahu.
Prime Minister Netanyahu, who has lost his parliamentary majority, has also put strong pressure on political cooperation between Jews and Arabs. He is contesting the election results, claiming the votes were “stolen” by Arab parties with bribes and foreign funding. His supporter, Shin Bet director David Zini, is pushing for investigations into Arab politicians without public evidence.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned in a video statement Saturday that Israel “simply cannot survive” if a minority government is formed with the support of Arab parties. Instead, it called for a national unity government from the entire bloc, which includes far-right and ultra-Orthodox parties. Prime Minister Netanyahu called on “all Zionist parties that want to preserve the only state of the Jewish people.”
Eisenkot dismissed his message as “pathetic spin.” “If Likud wants a broad national unity government, it is more than welcome to announce the end of its alliance with the extremists and join Prime Minister Eisenkot’s government,” Yashar’s party said in a statement.
Eisenkot’s first test will be on Tuesday at the swearing-in of the new parliament. The opposition plans to remove Netanyahu as speaker of parliament, weakening his grip on power and allowing them to begin taking action, such as establishing a national commission of inquiry into the security failures that led to the October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas. Prime Minister Eisenkot will have 28 days starting Sunday to negotiate with other parties over cabinet positions, budgets and policies, but could be extended for another 14 days. If he fails, the job will be handed over to Netanyahu for another four weeks.
Prime Minister Eisenkot said on Friday that he intended to form a government as soon as possible, calling the situation a national emergency. “The situation in which a minority interim prime minister who has lost the trust of the public to such an extreme extent continues to control the security system and law enforcement agencies is a dangerous situation that cannot continue for even a day,” he wrote in X.
