Israel's president tasks opposition leader Eisenkot with forming government

Israel's president Isaac Herzog has tasked opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot with forming a new coalition government following last week's election, where neither bloc secured a majority in the 120-seat Knesset. The election results showed Netanyahu's Likud party won 53 seats and Eisenkot's centrist Yashar party and three other Jewish opposition parties won 48, while two Arab-led alliances combined for 19 seats. Herzog gave Eisenkot 28 days to try to form a new administration, with a potential 14-day extension, and stated he would give Eisenkot the first chance to form a government after consulting all parties. This follows a precedent from 2020 when Netanyahu and Benny Gantz agreed on a power-sharing deal, and there is speculation that an agreement could be reached between Eisenkot and Arab parties. The president has broad discretion to pick someone with the best chance of building a coalition, and all but one Jewish party had previously pledged not to work with Arab parties. The election was one of the most fractured in Israeli history, with five separate elections between 2019 and 2022 as Netanyahu and his rivals struggled to cooperate, making this government formation process particularly challenging. Netanyahu's right-wing Likud party and its far-right and ultra-Orthodox Jewish allies won 53 seats, while Eisenkot's centrist Yashar party and three other Jewish opposition parties won 48, and the United Arab List and Joint List together secured 19 seats, positioning them as potential kingmakers in the new government. Herzog emphasized that the president has the authority to choose the leader of the party with the best chance of building a coalition, rather than being bound to the largest party.