President Isaac Herzog announced Saturday that he will task former IDF chief Gadi Eisenkot with trying to assemble Israel’s next government. Eisenkot, who leads the Yashar party and the broader “change bloc,” gets the formal mandate Sunday at 5 p.m. local time. He then has 28 days, extendable by up to 14 more, to secure the 61 seats needed in the 120-member Knesset. Until a new government wins a confidence vote, Benjamin Netanyahu remains prime minister.
🚨🇮🇱 BREAKING: Netanyahu has been DENIED the first chance to form Israel’s next government.
President Isaac Herzog has officially selected Gadi Eisenkot, Netanyahu’s main rival, to try to build a governing coalition.
The formal ceremony is scheduled for Sunday at 5 p.m. in Jerusalem.
And the numbers explain why.
Eisenkot received recommendations from 67 lawmakers, compared with just 46 for Netanyahu.
He’ll now have 28 days to put together a government, with a possible two-week extension.
But there’s a rather significant catch.
Those 67 endorsements don’t mean Eisenkot actually has 67 lawmakers willing to sit in the SAME government. Several potential coalition partners are refusing to work with one another.
So Netanyahu hasn’t lost the premiership just yet.
But after years in power, he’s now watching his biggest rival get the first opportunity to replace him.
And for once, Netanyahu isn’t the one holding the mandate.
Source: Yediot News / Writer: Oliver
— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) November 7, 2026
The October 27 election produced no majority. Likud took 27 seats, the most of any single party. Netanyahu’s outgoing coalition bloc holds 53 seats. Eisenkot’s four-party change bloc holds 48. Arab-led parties Ra’am and the Joint List took a combined 19, a record. Neither major camp reached 61. During presidential consultations, Eisenkot received recommendations from 67 lawmakers (including those 19 Arab-party seats). Netanyahu received 46. United Torah Judaism’s seven members recommended neither.
Netanyahu responded with a video statement circulating on X and Israeli outlets. He warned that any government dependent on the Arab parties would be unable to confront Hamas or Iran. “A government dependent on terror supporters will not fight terror,” he said. “With such a government, Israel simply will not survive.” He called instead for a national unity government that includes his existing partners plus other Zionist parties, arguing it is the only way to “permanently remove the nuclear threat from Iran, preserve Israel as a Jewish state, and bring unity among us.”
🚨🇮🇱 Netanyahu: Israel could face riots FAR WORSE than anything currently happening in Paris or Brussels.
He says the unrest could spread to Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Haifa if his political opponents form the next government.
“With such a government, Israel simply will not survive.”
Words from a prime minister fighting to stay in power.
Israel’s political crisis is getting deeply personal.
Writer: Oliver
https://t.co/jLaXVIfloe— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) November 7, 2026
Eisenkot answered that “now is the time for the formation of a national emergency government.” His stated conditions for partners include recognizing Israel as a Jewish and democratic state, accepting the Declaration of Independence, supporting mandatory military, national, or civilian service for all citizens, and treating Hamas as a terrorist organization whose military and governing capabilities must be dismantled. Yashar rejected Netanyahu’s unity offer and invited Likud to join under Eisenkot if it drops its current alliances.
The path is narrow. Eisenkot’s own bloc campaigned against governing with Arab parties or the ultra-Orthodox. Avigdor Liberman of Yisrael Beytenu has ruled out a minority government that relies on Arab-party abstentions and insists on a full 61-seat coalition. He has signaled willingness to revisit opposition to the ultra-Orthodox in exchange for concessions on conscription, which could bring United Torah Judaism’s seven seats and push the bloc toward 55—still short. Shas has dismissed reports of joining Eisenkot as “complete fake news.” Ra’am leader Mansour Abbas declined to give Herzog a clear yes-or-no on whether Hamas is a terrorist organization, citing the need to protect himself and his family. Eisenkot has said he does not see the Arab parties meeting his conditions.
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, ran as the main challenger to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Neither Eisenkot nor Netanyahu’s party won a clear majority in the vote. But in marathon discussions with the president this week, representatives from most of Israel’s main parties recommended Eisenkot be tasked with assembling a new government.
Herzog’s decision is a setback for Netanyahu, who has leveled allegations, so far without evidence, that some Arab countries interfered in the elections.
— CBS News (@CBSNews) November 7, 2026
If Eisenkot fails, Herzog can hand the mandate to Netanyahu or another lawmaker. Further failure can force new elections, with Netanyahu remaining caretaker. Israel has seen repeated deadlocks and repeat votes in recent years. Netanyahu’s Likud outperformed many pre-election expectations, and his coalition remains the largest bloc. The first post-October 7 election has sharpened questions about Arab-party positions on Hamas and security, which Netanyahu is highlighting in the video that has drawn heavy engagement on X.
Herzog’s choice is a clear setback for Israel’s longest-serving prime minister. It is not a removal. Eisenkot now has the first formal opportunity, but converting 67 recommendations into a stable 61-seat government requires crossing red lines his partners drew during the campaign. Netanyahu stays in office while the clock runs. The numbers and the internal vetoes leave open the possibility that he outlasts this round, as he has before.
— The Whatfinger News Team: Sgt A and Sgt R, with Grok on edits and graphics
