Eisenkot Accepts the Mandate to Form Israel's Next Government and Sets Four Conditions: His Four Parties Hold Only 48 Seats

President Isaac Herzog officially gave Gadi Eisenkot, a retired military chief who led the centrist Yashar party in the October 27 election, the mandate to form Israel's next government on Sunday, November 8. His decision followed two days of consultations last week with all parties elected to the Knesset. Eisenkot secured the support of 67 members of the incoming 120-seat Knesset, including 19 from the two Arab parties. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu received just 46 recommendations, and a crack in his bloc appeared when United Torah Judaism, a traditional Netanyahu ally, declined to recommend him.

"The challenges facing the State of Israel are immense," Herzog said as he gave Eisenkot the mandate. "We must deal with building the political horizon in the region and the day after the war," he said, adding that Israel must also deal with a new political situation in the United States — a reference to the U.S. midterm elections in which Democrats swept to power in Congress.

Accepting the mandate, Eisenkot said his "hand is extended" and his door open to anyone who understands the magnitude of the hour, and warned that anyone who tried to undermine a new government "will be remembered in history as someone who did not save Israel in a time of emergency." He is pushing to form what he calls a "national emergency government" and to swear in a minority government as soon as possible. It would comprise the four Jewish opposition parties, which together hold 48 seats: his own Yashar; Together, led by former prime ministers Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid; Avigdor Liberman's Yisrael Beiteinu, and the left-wing Democrats, led by Yair Golan.

He has set four conditions for joining: recognizing Israel as a Jewish, democratic, liberal, and egalitarian state; commitment to the values of the Declaration of Independence; universal service — whether military, national, or civilian — and recognition of Hamas as a terrorist organization. The last condition effectively rules out the Arab parties from sitting in the Cabinet, but they could still support the government from outside, providing a parliamentary safety net. Israeli law requires only a simple majority to establish a government; removing one requires an absolute majority of 61 votes supporting an alternative government.

Eisenkot's central obstacle is Liberman, who has ruled out any government dependent on the Arab parties, arguing a minority government will be short-lived and will only strengthen Netanyahu. Instead, Liberman proposed making a maximum effort to form a coalition of 61 lawmakers with the two ultra-Orthodox parties, Shas and United Torah Judaism, without the Arab parties. That plan clashes with one of the opposition's core commitments: to end the blanket draft exemption for ultra-Orthodox men from mandatory military service — the very issue addressed by Eisenkot's universal-service condition. The ultra-Orthodox parties are pressing for legislation that would enshrine the exemption.

Netanyahu, who lost his parliamentary majority, is challenging the election results and, in a video statement Saturday, called for a national unity government with his entire bloc. The Yashar party responded that if Likud wants a broad unity government, it is welcome to announce the dissolution of its alliance with the extremists and enter a government under Eisenkot.

Eisenkot's first test comes Tuesday with the swearing-in of the new Knesset, where the opposition intends to replace Netanyahu's Knesset speaker. Starting Sunday, Eisenkot will have 28 days to negotiate with other parties over Cabinet posts, budgets and policies, with a possible 14-day extension. If he fails, the mandate passes to Netanyahu for another four weeks.

Source: Office of the President of Israel

Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)

Photo: 图：亚沙尔党领袖加迪·艾森科特肖像。照片：Yahav Trudler（Yahav Studio），经 Wikimedia Commons（CC BY-SA 3.0）。 / Photo: Yashar leader Gadi Eisenkot. Yahav Trudler (Yahav Studio), via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0).

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