Herzog hands Eisenkot 28 days to form Israel’s government
Isaac Herzog formally tasked Gadi Eisenkot with forming a government on Sunday, giving the former chief of staff 28 days to assemble 61 votes in a Knesset where his bloc holds 48 seats to Benjamin Netanyahu’s 53. “We are in a state of emergency, approaching a point of no return for the state of Israel,” Mr Eisenkot said. “We must form a national emergency government. This will require creative and unconventional political steps.”
The president cited the “new political reality” in Washington and said “the State of Israel needs a stable government”. Mr Eisenkot, 66, extended “my hand … wholeheartedly and willingly, to anyone who understands the gravity of this moment”, appealing directly to Likud and Bezalel Smotrich’s party: “If members of Likud and the Religious Zionist Party truly believe this is a time for unity, as they told the president, I cannot conceive of any reason why they would not support a government under my leadership.” He insists on being prime minister himself. The arithmetic leaves three routes — a power-sharing deal with Mr Netanyahu, the Arab-led parties that won a record 19 seats, or the ultra-Orthodox factions, whose support would give him exactly 61 — and each is fraught: Avigdor Lieberman’s party refuses to sit with Arab-led parties, while Mr Netanyahu, who called at the weekend for a “national unity” government, has repeatedly claimed the 27 October election was “stolen” and warned against “hastily swearing in a government with terrorist supporters”. The Shin Bet is examining possible foreign interference, though the election commission and the president say the result stands. Herzog can grant a 14-day extension; watch the ultra-Orthodox price.