Israeli President Tasks Gadi Eisenkot With Forming Next Government After Deadlocked Election

President Isaac Herzog said Saturday he would task opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot with forming Israel's next government after a deadlocked October election. Eisenkot is scheduled to receive the mandate Sunday and will have 28 days to assemble a coalition.

Nov 08, 2026 - 08:20

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Israeli President Isaac Herzog said Saturday that he would task former military chief Gadi Eisenkot, leader of the centrist Yashar party, with forming the country's next government after an October election left both Eisenkot's alliance and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu short of a majority, according to BBC News, The Guardian and ABC News. Herzog's office said he had informed Eisenkot "of his intention to task him with forming a government" and that a formal ceremony would take place Sunday at the president's residence in Jerusalem, The Guardian reported. Eisenkot will have 28 days to assemble a coalition, with a possible 14-day extension, the BBC said.

How Herzog made the decision

Herzog consulted parties elected after the Oct. 27 vote, the BBC and Al Jazeera reported. ABC News quoted his office as saying factions totaling 67 Knesset members recommended that Eisenkot form the government, 46 recommended Netanyahu, and one seven-member faction made no recommendation. The Times of Israel identified that holdout as United Torah Judaism. A spokesperson said Herzog had invited Eisenkot to the President's Residence, "where he will be tasked with forming the government tomorrow," according to a Reuters report published by Geo News. The Times of Israel and ABC News said the ceremony was set for 5 p.m. Sunday in Israel.

A deadlocked Knesset

Netanyahu's Likud party and its far-right and ultra-Orthodox allies won 53 seats in the 120-seat Knesset, while Eisenkot's Yashar party and three other Jewish opposition parties won 48, the BBC and The Guardian reported. Reuters said Likud finished first among individual parties with 27 seats and Yashar second with 21. A majority requires 61 seats. Two Arab-led alliances, named by the BBC as the United Arab List and the Joint List, won a record 19 seats after a surge in Arab turnout. Reuters reported that Arab leaders nominated Eisenkot, giving him the most endorsements, a tally Al Jazeera also put at 67 lawmakers versus 46 for Netanyahu.

Eisenkot's record and first reaction

Eisenkot, 66, led Israel's military from 2015 to 2019, The Guardian reported. Reuters said he is the son of Moroccan immigrants, entered politics in 2022 and would become Israel's first Mizrahi prime minister if he takes office. He briefly served in Netanyahu's wartime cabinet after Hamas's Oct. 7, 2023, attack before returning to the opposition, Reuters reported, adding that a son and two of Eisenkot's nephews were killed fighting in Gaza. In a post on X, he wrote, "Now is the time to form a national emergency government. I will do everything to ensure we are worthy," the BBC and The Guardian reported. Reuters said he has criticized Netanyahu's leadership, including the Gaza campaign, and has said he would not serve in a government with him.

Narrow paths to a coalition

The BBC said possible outcomes include a national unity government involving both men, a right-wing coalition in which Netanyahu draws defectors from Eisenkot's bloc, or an Eisenkot-led government supported by the Arab parties. A Reuters explainer said Eisenkot could seek a minority government backed on key votes by the Arab parties, whose 19 seats plus his 48 would total 67; strike a deal with the two ultra-Orthodox parties, which together hold 13 seats and could give him 61; or form a unity government with Likud.

Eisenkot has declined to join forces with the Arab parties, Reuters reported, and the BBC said he and every member of his bloc except one had previously refused to enter government with them. Reuters added that Avigdor Liberman's party has repeatedly ruled out a minority government reliant on Arab parties. Ahmad Tibi, a senior Joint List member, told Al Jazeera he believes Eisenkot is headed for a minority government "with external support from the Arab parties." The Times of Israel reported that Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Liberman said Friday he was prepared to accept "painful compromises" on Haredi military enlistment to form a government without Netanyahu or the Arab parties. Reuters quoted him telling supporters, "you cannot have it all." Eisenkot's conditions for partners, according to the Times of Israel, include recognizing Hamas as a terrorist organization and committing to destroy its military and governing power; recognizing Israel as a Jewish and democratic state; accepting the values of the Declaration of Independence; and mandatory service for all.

Hours before the announcement, Netanyahu released a video calling for a "national unity government" that would include all of his last-coalition allies, the Times of Israel reported. ABC News quoted him saying, "This is the will of the people, and this is what the moment requires," and warning that "already next week, there are those who intend to hastily swear in a government with supporters of terror." Yashar said Likud and its allies should break with "the extremists," accept Eisenkot's principles and join a government under him as prime minister, the Times of Israel reported.

What happens if talks fail

Under Basic Law: The Government, Herzog's chosen candidate has 28 days to form a government and the president may add up to 14 days, The Jerusalem Post reported. If that effort fails, Herzog must decide within three days whether to assign the task to another lawmaker, who would have 28 days with no extension. If the second attempt also fails, at least 61 lawmakers would have 21 days to ask the president to assign the task to a particular member of Knesset, who would then have 14 days. If all attempts fail, the Knesset would be dissolved and another election held, with the outgoing government remaining as caretaker, the Post reported. Reuters said the overall process has a deadline of around 100 days. The BBC noted that Israel held five elections between 2019 and 2022 and that in 2020 Netanyahu and Benny Gantz agreed to a power-sharing rotation. During consultations, Herzog said he expected "factions and their representatives to understand that, in the current reality, not every commitment and promise can be fulfilled," the BBC reported.