Israeli president picks Netanyahu’s rival Eisenkot to form new government

Israeli President Isaac Herzog has selected Gadi Eisenkot, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s main rival, to try to form a new government following the parliamentary elections last month.

Netanyahu’s coalition lost its majority in the Oct. 27 elections, and no party received enough seats in the Knesset for a governing majority.

The president of Israel has the authority to choose which party leader has the ability to form a government, a decision partially informed by the preference of Knesset members. Most members said they preferred Eisenkot, and he now has 28 days to form a government, with the possibility of an additional 14-day extension.

Still, while the Arab parties’ members said they preferred Eisenkot, they may not necessarily agree to join his party’s governing coalition. Eisenkot put out four principles that anyone joining his coalition must agree to, including labeling Hamas as a terrorist organization.

Building a coalition with those principles appears to be difficult. The head of Ra’am, an Arab party, said he would not label Hamas a terrorist organization. And if Eisenkot does get the Arab parties to join his coalition, he may lose the support of Yisrael Beiteinu, a right-wing party, whose leader endorsed Eisenkot but said his party would not be in a government with Arab parties.

The opposition leader joined Netanyahu’s emergency war cabinet following the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attacks on Israel, but later resigned over disagreements about the direction of the war.

Eisenkot’s son and nephew died in Gaza while fighting Hamas in the war, and he remains opposed to the creation of a Palestinian state. He is hawkish on Iran and supports Israeli military action against Hezbollah in Lebanon.

President Trump endorsed Netanyahu for reelection just ahead of the vote in Israel, a significant show of support for a pair of world leaders that have at times sharply disagreed about foreign policy.

Back in June, Trump called Netanyahu “f—king crazy” over the country’s escalating operations in Lebanon. And on Election Day Trump said the U.S. would cut off $4 billion in aid to Israel, saying Netanyahu agreed to it.