Overview
- Eisenkot received the mandate from President Isaac Herzog on Sunday, Nov. 8, and now has 28 days with a possible 14‑day extension to build a coalition that can win 61 votes in the 120‑seat Knesset.
- Arithmetic leaves no easy path: Eisenkot’s four‑party bloc holds 48 seats, Netanyahu’s bloc has 53, and Arab‑led lists together hold 19 seats that could determine a minority government or supply outside support.
- Three main routes are in play: a minority government surviving on Arab‑party votes, a narrow majority by bringing in Shas and United Torah Judaism if they accept limits on draft exemptions, or a broad unity government with Likud that would require an agreement on who leads.
- The opposition is already using parliamentary levers by proposing Matan Kahana for Knesset speaker and Avigdor Lieberman for the foreign affairs and defence committee as it pushes for a commission to probe the Oct. 7 security failures.
- If Eisenkot cannot form a government the Basic Law lets the president offer the task to another lawmaker or the Knesset can trigger a third candidate and ultimately new elections, a sequence that could deepen political instability and shape Israel’s security and draft policies in the months ahead.