JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli President Isaac Herzog declared on Saturday evening that he gave the opposition candidate Gadi Eizenkot the first opportunity to form a government coalition after elections on October 27.
Eisenkot, a former military leader who presented himself as the main challenger to the Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahuis now one step closer to ousting Israel’s longest-serving prime minister.
“Now is the time to establish an emergency national government. I will do everything in my power to prove to ourselves that we are worthy of it,” Eisenkot posted on his X account just after the presidential announcement.
He has six weeks to form a coalition, a difficult task in a context deeply divided country reeling from the attacks carried out by Hamas on October 7, 2023 and the three years of war that followed in Gaza and beyond.
In discussions with the president this week, representatives of most of Israel’s major parties recommended that Eisenkot be tasked with forming a new government. But gathering the necessary parliamentary majority remains difficult and any possible coalition would require that candidates make difficult compromises it could outrage their own voters.
Netanyahu and his allies lost their majority in parliament during last month’s elections. But the bloc led by Eisenkot did not obtain a majority either. This left Arab-led partieswhat did historic gainsas potential but politically charged kingmakers.
An Arab party has been part of a governing coalition only once in Israel’s history. The formation of such an alliance could be particularly divisive for Eisenkot after more than three years of war in Gaza.
Netanyahu is leading a campaign to prevent any alliance between Eisenkot and Arab parties, including unsubstantiated claims that Arab parties “stole” the elections. Shortly before Herzog’s announcement, he called for the formation of a “government of national unity” in a video statement and warned against “hastily establishing a government with supporters of terrorists” – language he uses to refer to Arab-led parties.
Netanyahu and his allies have repeatedly portrayed Arab parties as a threat to national security, while Eizenkot has indicated a willingness to partner with them under certain conditions, including calling Hamas a terrorist group that must be destroyed.
Eisenkot and Netanyahu, whose Likud is the largest party in parliament, could seek to create a broad unity government with the main Jewish parties. However, the men have deep differences on many issues that will be difficult to overcome. This includes Netanyahu’s reliance on religious parties demanding draft exemptions for ultra-orthodox menas well as Netanyahu’s opposition to a formal investigation into the security failures surrounding the October 7 attacks.
Eisenkot could also seek to create a “minority” government – backed by external support from Arab parties that are not official members of his coalition. However, other members of his bloc have said they would reject such an alliance.
Eisenkot’s party, Yashar, criticized the prime minister’s video with a statement posted on
The statement said Eisenkot would only include parties and parliamentarians who support his party’s principles.
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Associated Press writers Josef Federman and Julia Frankel contributed from Jerusalem.
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