Israeli president Isaac Herzog has asked opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot to form a new government in a blow to Benjamin Netanyahu.
asserted
Herzog → ask → Netanyahu
Mr Eisenkot vowed on Saturday to help form a new government, after Mr Herzog chose him for the task over the incumbent prime minister.
'Now is the time to form a national emergency government.
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time → vow → government
I will do everything to ensure we are worthy,' Mr Eisenkot said in his first reaction to the announcement of his designation.
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Eisenkot → do → designation
On Friday, the centrist Yashar party leader said Israel was 'in a true, tangible, and dangerous state of emergency'.
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Israel → say → emergency
He claimed Mr Netanyahu's government 'threatens, at the most fundamental level, the very existence of Israeli democracy'.
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government → claim → democracy
Mr Herzog's decision has come following a deadlocked election that left neither man with a clear path to power.
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that → come → power
Mr Netanyahu, Israel's longest-serving leader, is fighting to stay in office after his religious-nationalist coalition lost its majority in an October 27 election but still emerged as the largest bloc in parliament.
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coalition → serve → parliament
Mr Eisenkot, a former military chief, has declined to join forces with Arab parties, whose support would give him a majority of seats in parliament.
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support → decline → parliament
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks to supporters at Likud party headquarters in Jerusalem on October 28
Former military chief Gadi Eisenkot, leader of the Yashar party, waves an Israeli flag following the exit polls at his party headquarters on October 28
But Arab leaders, incensed by what they view as the racist policies of Mr Netanyahu and his far-Right allies, still nominated Mr Eisenkot to try to form a government first – giving him the most endorsements.
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they → speak → endorsements
'President Herzog has invited Gadi Eisenkot to the president's Residence, where he will be tasked with forming the government tomorrow,' said the spokesman of President Isaac Herzog, whose largely ceremonial role involves nominating a candidate to form a coalition after elections.
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role → invite → elections
Weeks of protracted negotiations are expected to follow Mr Eisenkot's nomination.
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Weeks → expect → nomination
He has 28 days to try to forge a government, with a possible 14-day extension.
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He → have → extension
His potential pathways to power include trying to form a minority government with Arab party votes on key issues; forming a coalition with ultra-Orthodox parties that he and his allies have shunned in the past; or forging a unity government with Mr Netanyahu.
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he → include → Netanyahu
Analysts say that all three options are unlikely to take shape.
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options → say → shape
If Mr Eisenkot fails, another candidate can try to form a government and if that candidate fails, parliament can nominate another.
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parliament → fail → another
If no one succeeds, another election is held.
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election → succeed → ?
Mr Eisenkot's Yashar party emerged as the second-largest party with 21 seats, while his coalition, spanning four centre-left to Right-wing Jewish-led parties, won just 48 seats.
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coalition → emerge → seats
Protesters gather at Habima Square to demand the formation of a joint government including Arab parties on November 7
Two parties representing Israel's Arab minority won an unprecedented 19 seats.
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parties → gather → seats
A son of Moroccan immigrants, Mr Eisenkot, 66, would be the country's first prime minister from Israel's Mizrahi community, Jews who trace their roots to the Middle East and North Africa.
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who → trace → East
Reserved and media-shy, Mr Eisenkot only entered politics in 2022.
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Eisenkot → enter → 2022
He briefly served in Mr Netanyahu's wartime cabinet following Hamas's October 7 attack on Israel before returning to the opposition.
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He → serve → opposition
From opposition, he publicly rebuked Mr Netanyahu over his leadership, including his management of the military campaign in Gaza, and has sworn that he would not serve in government with him.
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he → rebuke → him
Mr Eisenkot's public standing is also bound up with the personal price his family has paid since 2023: a son and two nephews were killed fighting in Gaza.
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son → bind → Gaza
He highlighted his security credentials on the campaign trail, citing his 'Dahiyeh doctrine' of responding to attacks with disproportionate force, which he deployed as a commander during Israel's 2006 war with Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon.
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he → highlight → Lebanon
Mr Eisenkot has criticised settler violence against Palestinians, which has surged since 2023, raising tensions in Israel's ties with Western states, and he opposes Mr Netanyahu's far-Right coalition partners Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, who have both faced sanctions by some Western countries for inciting violence against Palestinians.
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who → criticise → Palestinians
The Aporia
