Israel's president taps opposition candidate Eisenkot to form government, in setback for Netanyahu

JERUSALEM — Israeli President Isaac Herzog said Saturday night that he was giving opposition candidate Gadi Eisenkot the first opportunity to form a governing coalition following elections on Oct. 27.

Eisenkot, a former military chief who ran as the main challenger to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, is now a step closer to ousting Israel’s longest-serving premier.

“This is the time to establish a national emergency government. I will do anything possible to prove us worthy,” Eisenkot posted on his X account just after the presidential announcement.

He has up to six weeks to form a coalition, a challenging task in a deeply divided country reeling from the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attacks and the three years of wars that have followed in Gaza and beyond.

In discussions with the president this week, representatives from most of Israel’s main parties recommended Eisenkot be tasked with assembling a new government. But putting together the parliamentary majority needed remains fraught and any possible coalition would require candidates to make tough compromises that could outrage their own voters.

Netanyahu and his allies lost their majority in parliament in last month's elections. But the bloc led by Eisenkot also didn’t win a majority. That left Arab-led parties, which made historic gains, as potential but politically fraught kingmakers.

An Arab party has been part of a governing coalition just once in Israel's history. Forming such an alliance could be especially divisive for Eisenkot after more than three years of war in Gaza.

Netanyahu has been on a campaign to head off any alliance between Eisenkot and the Arab-led parties, including unsubstantiated claims that Arab parties “stole” the elections. Shortly before Herzog's announcement, he called for a “national unity government” in a video statement and warned against “hastily swearing in a government with terrorist supporters” — language he uses to refer to the Arab-led parties.

Netanyahu and his allies have repeatedly portrayed the Arab-led parties as a threat to national security, while Eisenkot has indicated a willingness to partner with them under certain conditions, including calling Hamas a terrorist group that needs to be destroyed.

Eisenkot and Netanyahu, whose Likud is the single largest party in parliament, could seek to create a broad unity government with major Jewish parties. However, the men have deep differences over many issues that will be difficult to bridge. That includes Netanyahu's reliance on religious parties that demand draft exemptions for ultra-Orthodox men , as well as Netanyahu's opposition to a formal investigation into the security failures surrounding the Oct. 7 attacks.

Eisenkot could also seek to create a “minority” government — shored up by external support from Arab parties that are not formal members of his coalition. However, other members of his bloc have said they would reject such an alliance.

Eisenkot’s party, Yashar, slammed the prime minister’s video with a statement posted on X and urged members of his party, Likud, to disavow their alliance with “radical parties,” in an apparent reference to the far-right parties in his religious-nationalist base.

The statement argued that Eisenkot would only include parties and parliament members who support his party's principles.