Israel’s president picks Eisenkot over Netanyahu to form next government 

Israeli President Isaac Herzog has tasked former army chief Gadi Eisenkot with forming the country’s next government, passing over his rival Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Herzog communicated his decision to Eisenkot on Saturday evening and will formally hand him the mandate at a ceremony on Sunday, a statement from the president’s spokesperson said.

This comes after Herzog held consultations with political parties this week, to decide who he would grant the chance to form a government after neither side secured a majority in the October 27 general election.

Eisenkot, leader of the Yashar party, was endorsed by parties representing 67 lawmakers, including Arab-led parties, as opposed to 46 for Netanyahu’s bloc.

Eisenkot will have 28 days – with a possible 14-day extension – to build a coalition that holds at least 61 of the Knesset’s 120 seats, the minimum threshold for a government.

In the October election, Eisenkot’s four-party alliance won 48 seats, while Netanyahu’s right-wing and religious bloc secured 53, leaving both short of the 61 needed for a parliamentary majority. Arab-led parties, representing Palestinian citizens of Israel, won a record 19 seats.

Eisenkot has ruled out forming a government with the Arab-led parties, which would give him a 67-seat bloc. Winning over the two ultra-Orthodox parties, United Torah Judaism and Shas, would give him exactly 61 seats.

He could also form a government with fewer than 61 seats if he wins a parliamentary confidence vote.

Al Jazeera’s Nour Odeh, reporting from Ramallah on Herzog’s decision, said the president “took the predictable route” in selecting Eisenkot, as he is the person with the highest number of recommendations.

“The hard work will begin now for Eisenkot to put together a government that can pass a vote of confidence at the Knesset that one, will not break too many of the promises he made on the campaign trail; and two, that can survive the opposition of the right-wing bloc led by Netanyahu,” Odeh said.

If Eisenkot fails to form a government within the allotted time, Herzog will nominate another candidate. If the second nominee fails, a parliament majority can back a third candidate, and be granted a final 14 days.

If once again no government is formed, a new election will be called within 90 days, with Netanyahu staying on as a caretaker prime minister.

Eisenkot led Israel’s military from 2015 to 2019 and sat as an observer in Netanyahu’s war cabinet for the first eight months of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza.

Ahmad Tibi, a senior member of the Joint List – a coalition of Arab-led parties that holds 11 seats – told Al Jazeera on Saturday that Herzog’s decision was “expected”.

“We were concerned that the president would move towards a national unity government,” he said, referring to a proposed power-sharing agreement between Eisenkot and Netanyahu.

Instead, Arab-led parties endorsed Eisenkot for the mandate, granting him a “considerable margin”.

Tibi said he believes that Eisenkot is headed towards a minority government “with external support from the Arab parties”.

While this would not be a “dream government” for Arab-led parties, he prioritised bringing down “the government of Netanyahu, [Itama] Ben Gvir and [Bezalel] Smotrich”.

Hours before Herzog’s decision, Netanyahu had warned that a government formed by opposition parties with the support of Arab-led parties would lead to Israel’s collapse.

“Such a government, dependent on Islamists, will dismantle the State of Israel from within, as is happening in European countries, and far worse than that,” Netanyahu said in a pre-recorded video speech, echoing the language of far-right politicians who falsely claim parts of Europe have come under Islamic law.

Referring to Netanyahu’s speech, Tibi said “he described us as supporters of terrorists and terrorism. My response to him is this: Netanyahu is the biggest terrorist in Israel and the region and the foremost supporter of terrorism, particularly Jewish terrorism in the West Bank and the Palestinian territories.”

While Eisenkot has expressly said that he does not wish to form a government with Arab-led parties, “they both share quite compelling reasons to get rid of Netanyahu”, Al Jazeera’s Odeh noted.