Israeli Politicsupdated 13m ago3 min read
Gadi Eisenkot Warns Israel in “State of Emergency” After Herzog Mandate
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Eisenkot warns Israel is in a state of emergency after Herzog grants him mandate. He cancelled a coalition negotiation with Likud amid Netanyahu's Knesset speech.
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Eisenkot’s emergency warning
President Isaac Herzog gave Gadi Eisenkot the mandate to form Israel’s next government on Sunday, and Eisenkot warned Israel was in a “state of emergency” and approaching a “point of no return.” Eisenkot has 28 days to form a government, with a possible 14-day extension, and the arithmetic in the 120-member Knesset hinges on his bloc holding 48 seats while reaching agreement with Ra’am and the Joint List, which hold 19 seats together. The opinion piece says 67 lawmakers recommended Eisenkot to Herzog while 46 recommended Benjamin Netanyahu, and it adds that Eisenkot’s bloc has already moved in the Knesset to seek an official inquiry into the October 7 attacks and reverse changes that curtailed judicial powers.
“Eisenkot now has 28 days to form a government, with a possible 14-day extension.”
The same account says Avigdor Liberman’s Yisrael Beytenu will refuse to join a coalition with Arab-led parties, and it frames Eisenkot’s harder test as whether he can ask allies to accept a political choice they would rather avoid. The piece also says Eisenkot’s instinct is to consult and seek consensus, and it argues that his hesitation could lead some to see another election as preferable to giving him open-ended support.
Likud talks cancelled
Gadi Eisenkot cancelled a scheduled coalition negotiation meeting between his Yashar party and Netanyahu’s Likud after Netanyahu’s speech at the swearing-in ceremony of the new Knesset, and Eisenkot said the address was “delusional, divisive, hateful and disgraceful.” Eisenkot wrote on X that he “became even more convinced that he is unfit to remain in office for even one more minute,” and he called for the urgent formation of a national emergency government. The DW account says Eisenkot made the decision “in light of the outgoing prime minister’s divisive speech and the contempt for the oath-taking ceremony of the Knéset,” and it adds that Yashar said Netanyahu “does not want unity.”
Netanyahu’s speech called for a National Unity Government in facing the Iranian threat, and it questioned the opposition’s willingness to govern alongside Arab formations while describing them as Iran’s Trojan horse and allied armed groups. The DW account says Eisenkot, whom President Isaac Herzog entrusted with forming a government on Sunday, has 28 days, extendable by another 14, to form the executive.
Bills and coalition math
On the first day of the 26th Knesset, Eisenkot’s Yashar and Yair Golan’s Democrats submitted bills that would establish a state commission of inquiry into the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led massacre and impose term limits on prime ministers. The same day’s proposals also sought to repeal laws passed as part of Prime Minister Netanyahu’s government’s judicial overhaul agenda, including the law eroding the powers of the attorney general, the Judicial Selection Committee law, and Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi’s media overhaul. The Times of Israel account says the opposition bloc seeking to replace Netanyahu controls 48 of 120 seats in the incoming Knesset compared with 53 for parties in Netanyahu’s governing coalition, while Arab parties control the remaining 19 seats.
“Eisenkot on Tuesday afternoon said he had submitted the necessary 61-plus signatures for the vote.”
The Times of Israel account also says Eisenkot submitted the necessary 61-plus signatures for a vote to replace Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana, and it reports that the Zionist anti-Netanyahu bloc nominated Matan Kahana for Knesset speaker. In parallel, the Times of Israel account says Eisenkot, Democrats chief Yair Golan, Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Liberman, B’Yachad chief Naftali Bennett and Opposition Leader Yair Lapid agreed that Liberman would lead the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, while incoming B’Yachad MK Liran Avisar Ben Horin would chair the Finance Committee.