Overview
- The Knesset convened on Tuesday, November 10, and President Isaac Herzog formally tasked opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot with forming a new government after he won the most recommendations in post‑vote consultations.
- Eisenkot has pledged to build a national emergency cabinet quickly and his bloc has moved to reconfigure Parliament by nominating Matan Kahana to replace Amir Ohana and by claiming control of key committee posts.
- No side has a clear majority: Benjamin Netanyahu’s bloc holds 53 seats, Eisenkot’s allied parties hold 48, and Arab parties hold a record 19 seats that could provide outside support to a minority government.
- Negotiations hinge on two decisive options: secure external backing from the Arab parties without them joining the cabinet or win concessions or defections from ultra‑Orthodox or right‑wing MPs, while figures such as Avigdor Liberman warn they would quit if the coalition depends on Arab votes.
- Eisenkot has 28 days, extendable by 14, to form a government and the immediate flashpoints to watch are next week’s committee votes, a proposed state inquiry into the Oct. 7 failures, and how any new arrangement would affect military oversight and citizens living near conflict zones.