Israeli Politicsupdated 20m ago3 min read
Gadi Eisenkot Accepts Herzog Mandate to Form Israel’s National Emergency Government
16outlets comparedWhere the coverage agrees
7 Western Mainstream6 Other1 Israeli2 Other source typesThis article is an automated aggregation of coverage from news outlets. Our editorials offer in-depth analysis curated by the NewsCord team.
Eisenkot tasked by President Herzog to form new Israeli government within 28 days. Proposes national emergency government and invites Netanyahu's Likud to join coalition.
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Eisenkot gets mandate
President Isaac Herzog tasked opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot with forming a new Israeli government after neither Eisenkot's bloc nor Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's bloc secured a majority in the Knesset following last week's election. Eisenkot accepted the mandate and said, "We are in an emergency moment, at a point of no return for the State of Israel," as he called for a national emergency government. Herzog said he had concluded in-depth talks with "all the factions elected to the Knesset" before formally asking Eisenkot to form a new government.
Herzog said consultations produced 67 recommendations for Eisenkot and 46 for Netanyahu, and Eisenkot was given 28 days to form a coalition with a possible 14-day extension. Eisenkot’s Yashar party and three other Jewish opposition parties in his bloc won 48 seats, while Netanyahu’s Likud and its far-right and ultra-Orthodox Jewish allies won 53 seats in the 120-seat Knesset.
Door open, red lines
Eisenkot urged Netanyahu’s Likud and the Religious Zionist Party to join a government led by him, saying, "If you truly believe that this is a moment for unity, as you told the president, I cannot imagine any reason why you cannot come and support a government led by me and the principles I have presented." Eisenkot warned that "anyone who tries to sabotage the formation of a government for personal and not substantive reasons will be remembered in history as someone who did not save Israel in a moment of emergency." The opposition bloc Eisenkot leads faced internal constraints because Avigdor Lieberman ruled out backing a minority government or one reliant on Arab-led parties, narrowing Eisenkot’s options for securing parliamentary support.
The BBC said Eisenkot and every member of his bloc bar one previously refused to enter government with Arab parties, even as it described the Arab-led alliances as potential kingmakers after they won 19 seats together. The Times of Israel said Eisenkot was expected to meet later today with B’Yachad chairman Naftali Bennett, while it said the main sticking point between Yisrael Beytenu and Yashar was Lieberman’s position on minority and Arab-dependent governments.
Coalition math and next tests
Herzog’s mandate set a timetable in which Eisenkot has 28 days to form a coalition, with a possible 14-day extension, and the BBC said the president has broad discretion to pick someone they believe has the best chance of building a coalition. The BBC described three possible options for government formation as a national unity administration involving both Netanyahu and Eisenkot, a right-wing coalition involving Netanyahu and defectors from Eisenkot’s bloc, or an Eisenkot-led government supported by the Arab parties. The BBC said two Arab-led alliances, the United Arab List and the Joint List, together won 19 seats after a surge in turnout among Arab voters, while it said all but one of the Jewish parties pledged before the polls not to work with them to form a government.
DW said Eisenkot told Herzog he was convinced it was possible to quickly form a new government with a substantial majority in the Knesset, and it quoted Eisenkot saying, "I am convinced that it is possible to quickly form a new government with a substantial majority in the Knesset." The Times of Israel said Eisenkot and Lieberman were set to meet tomorrow amid disagreements over formation of government, with the meeting scheduled a day before the new Knesset is sworn in.