Eisenkot gets first chance to form Israel’s next government
Israeli President Isaac Herzog asked opposition candidate Gadi Eisenkot to try to assemble the country’s next government, moving Netanyahu’s main challenger closer to replacing the long-serving prime minister. Herzog announced the decision on Saturday night, November 7, after days of consultations with party representatives.
The October 27 vote left both Eisenkot and Netanyahu without a majority. But representatives of most of Israel’s main parties recommended that Eisenkot receive the first chance to build a governing coalition.
Eisenkot, a former military chief, led a bloc of parties seeking to remove Netanyahu from office. The president’s decision is a setback for Netanyahu, though Eisenkot still faces the challenge of bringing together enough parties to govern.
The task gives Eisenkot an opportunity to turn the election result and the recommendations of most major parties into a coalition. No details were provided about how long he would have to assemble one or what the parties’ negotiations would involve.
Eisenkot’s chance to replace Netanyahu puts voters’ choice in focus
Israel’s opposition has been given the first opportunity to form a government after an election that left neither Gadi Eisenkot nor Benjamin Netanyahu with a clear majority. President Isaac Herzog’s decision on Saturday night, November 7, puts Netanyahu’s principal challenger a step closer to replacing the country’s longest-serving leader.
Eisenkot led a bloc of parties seeking to oust Netanyahu, and representatives of most of Israel’s main parties recommended that he receive the first chance to assemble a coalition. The choice reflects the weight of those recommendations, even though the election alone did not produce a majority for either contender.
Eisenkot, a former military chief, now has to turn that opening into a government by bringing parties together. The result is a significant setback for Netanyahu, but the path remains difficult: a first mandate is not the same as a governing majority.
The next test will be whether the parties backing Eisenkot’s effort can assemble a coalition. Their recommendations have given him the opening; forming a government remains the harder task.
Eisenkot gets the mandate, but Israel still has no clear majority
President Isaac Herzog has handed opposition candidate Gadi Eisenkot the first chance to form a government, but the October 27 election produced no clear majority for him or Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The decision, announced Saturday night, November 7, is a setback for Netanyahu without resolving the challenge of who can govern.
Representatives of most of Israel’s main parties recommended Eisenkot during consultations with Herzog. Eisenkot, a former military chief, led a bloc campaigning to remove Netanyahu, Israel’s longest-serving prime minister. But party recommendations do not by themselves amount to a coalition, and Eisenkot must still bring enough parties together.
The result is an opening for Netanyahu’s main rival, not a completed transfer of power. The election left both contenders short of a clear majority, and the next stage depends on coalition-building.
Eisenkot now has the first opportunity to try. Whether he can convert that opportunity into a functioning government remains the central question.
Reported by The Philadelphia Inquirer, CNN.
