Israel's Herzog taps rival Eisenkot, not Netanyahu, to form government
Archived — this story has rotated out of today’s deck. It is kept here in full.
The gist
Israeli President Isaac Herzog tasked former army chief Gadi Eisenkot, not Benjamin Netanyahu, with forming a government.
Netanyahu's Likud still holds the most seats, so the outcome hinges on coalition math.
Background
Benjamin Netanyahu is Israel's prime minister and longest-serving premier, who has led the country on and off for nearly two decades and led war on Gaza, Lebanon and Iran since the October 7, 2023 attacks. Gadi Eisenkot, a former chief of staff of the Israel Defense Forces (2015–2019) and leader of the centrist Yashar party, is his main challenger. After the October 27, 2026 election, Netanyahu's bloc fell from 68 to 53 of the 120 Knesset seats while the opposition led by Eisenkot holds 67, nearly a third of which comes from the two Arab parties, the Joint List and Raam, after a historic turnout that secured 19 seats. President Isaac Herzog's decision to hand the mandate to Eisenkot, despite Likud winning 27 seats to Yashar's 21, is the setback now driving the story.
How it unfolded
- Oct 27, 2026Israel held its national election, its first vote since the Hamas-led attack on Oct. 7, 2023.
- Oct 29, 2026After his far-right coalition lost 11 seats, Netanyahu tried to discredit the results by claiming mass voting fraud in Arab communities.
- Nov 5, 2026Trump told "Fox & Friends" that US aid to Israel "gets cut off at the end of the year" and said Netanyahu "brought it up."
- Nov 7, 2026President Isaac Herzog tapped Gadi Eisenkot, not Netanyahu, to try to form the next government; Likud won 27 seats, six more than Eisenkot's Yashar, but neither secured a majority in the 120-seat parliament.
- Nov 8, 2026Eisenkot was set to be formally given the mandate, with an initial deadline of 28 days; in consultations, parties accounting for 67 lawmakers recommended Eisenkot against 46 for Netanyahu.
- Nov 9, 2026Herzog formally tasked Eisenkot with forming a government at a ceremony in Jerusalem; factions totaling 67 Knesset members supported Eisenkot and a bloc of 46 supported Netanyahu.
Key terms
- coalition
- A government formed by two or more political parties sharing executive power, usually when no party wins a majority.
- Likud
- A major right-wing political party in Israel, officially known as Likud – National Liberal Movement.
- Joint List
- A left-wing alliance of Arab-majority political parties in Israel representing Arab citizens.
Source: Wikipedia
Who’s saying what
- Netanyahu
- Netanyahu says there are "serious suspicions" that foreign countries used enormous sums of money to try to manipulate the election results, and has called for a "national unity government" while warning against "hastily swearing in a government with terrorist supporters."
- Eisenkot
- Eisenkot says "now is the time to form a national emergency government" and that he will do everything to prove himself worthy, while accusing Likud and Netanyahu of trying to "commit a pogrom against democracy and the rule of law."
- Herzog
- President Herzog says the State of Israel needs a stable government and that "this is the time to reach out a hand, to do everything for the unity of our people."
- Opposition
- Yair Golan called the end of US aid another massive failure under Netanyahu's name, saying a responsible prime minister would have fought to increase American aid, not eliminate it.
Still unverified
Netanyahu and his Likud party allege, without presenting evidence, that the vote was "stolen" by Israel's Arab parties and foreign actors through bribery, foreign funding and fraud; the Central Elections Committee has rejected claims of widespread fraud as baseless. The elections committee asked the Shin Bet to examine "serious suspicions" of foreign funding, but chair Justice Noam Sohlberg cautioned that he could not verify the seriousness of the material.