Israel’s Eisenkot secures strong backing for coalition talks

JERUSALEM

Israeli President Isaac Herzog will announce whom he will task with trying to form a new government on Nov. 8, after the opposition’s Gadi Eisenkot secured a commanding number of recommendations to replace Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Herzog held a second day of consultations with political parties on Nov. 5 after the Oct. 27 election, in which neither Netanyahu, a polarizing right-winger who has led Israel through three years of war, nor Eisenkot, a former military chief promising to restore national unity, secured enough votes for a majority.

Herzog will make his choice, but traditionally the mandate is given to the person recommended by more parliament members. Sixty-seven picked Eisenkot, 46 opted for Netanyahu, while seven abstained.

“The results of the consultations may appear clear, but the authority vested in me by law is to determine who has the ability to form a government, and that is not entirely clear, given the mutual vetoes between the blocs and within the blocs themselves,” Herzog said on Nov. 5.

“I will try to determine this directly and quickly, in personal talks with some of the party leaders.”

Two Arab-majority lists won an unprecedented 19 seats in the election, making them potential kingmakers if Eisenkot’s opposition chooses to work with them, which remains unclear.

Both Arab lists on Nov. 5 said they were backing Eisenkot.

However, another party in Eisenkot’s camp, right-wing Israel Beiteinu, has repeatedly indicated it will not sit in a government that relies on support from Arab parties.

Party leader Avigdor Liberman, a former Netanyahu ally turned critic, cited as a reason the refusal by Arab parties to explicitly define Hamas as a “terror group,” even though they have repeatedly condemned the organization’s attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.

Liberman said on Nov. 6 he would not back down on rejecting an alliance with Israeli-Arabs but said the opposition should negotiate with ultra-Orthodox Jews, despite his years of heated denunciations of the community for avoiding military service.