Updated November 8, 2026 at 2:45 AM CST
Israel's president has tapped Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's main political rival, Gadi Eisenkot, to try to form the next government. It's a setback for Netanyahu, whose party won the most seats but failed to secure a parliamentary majority.
Netanyahu's Likud party won 27 seats in last month's election, six more than Eisenkot's Yashar party. But neither secured enough support to command a majority in Israel's 120-seat parliament.
President Isaac Herzog will formally give Eisenkot the mandate at 5 p.m. local time on Sunday. Herzog made the decision after parties representing most of the members of Israel's parliament recommended Eisenkot to try forming a governing coalition.
Eisenkot is a former chief of staff of the Israel Defense Forces, serving as the country's top military commander from 2015 to 2019. A veteran of several military campaigns, he later joined Netanyahu's emergency war cabinet following the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks on Israel, but left the following year, accusing Netanyahu of failing to make progress toward ending the Gaza war and securing the release of hostages.
Eisenkot lost his son, Gal, a reservist killed in Gaza, as well as two nephews during the war.
He leads the center-right Yashar party, which he founded on an anti-corruption and government reform platform. He will now have 28 days to put together a coalition government, with a possible 14-day extension.
That gives him up to six weeks to negotiate with rival parties and secure the 61 seats needed for a parliamentary majority.
The coalition building promises to be a tough task and could include strange bedfellows: from ultra-Orthodox Jewish parties to Arab-led parties representing Palestinian citizens of Israel — who make up about 20% of Israel and had a record turnout in these elections.
They could now potentially be the kingmakers. But both Eisenkot and Netanyahu ruled out working with them before the elections. Now there's some public pressure on Eisenkot to change his mind, and on Saturday Netanyahu issued a video warning against that.
He said it would be partnering with what he called Hamas supporters and "those who oppose Judaism." Eisenkot responded, calling Netanyahu's video hysterical.
If Eisenkot fails, Herzog can give another lawmaker a chance to form a government. If those efforts also fail, Israel could face another election. Netanyahu would remain caretaker prime minister in the meantime.
Copyright 2026 NPR
