Israel's New Knesset Holds Its First Vote: Eisenkot Camp Wins the Arrangements Committee 63 to 50, Netanyahu Stays Caretaker Premier
Israel's 26th Knesset held the first plenary vote since its swearing-in on November 11, and the camp of Gadi Eisenkot, the former army chief who holds the mandate to form the next government, won it: the opposition's plan for the Arrangements Committee was approved 63 to 50, defeating a rival proposal from Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud bloc. Netanyahu remains prime minister of a caretaker government.
The Arrangements Committee is the temporary panel that runs parliament while no government has been formed. It sets the Knesset's agenda, decides the makeup of its standing committees and can appoint temporary committees. By law its chair comes from the faction of the lawmaker tasked with forming the government, so Roy Folkman of Eisenkot's Yashar party takes the chair. The committee immediately installed Avigdor Liberman, the former defense minister who leads Yisrael Beytenu, as temporary chair of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, which oversees the military and will handle the fight over drafting ultra-Orthodox men, and gave the temporary Finance Committee to Liran Avisar Ben-Horin of the Bennett-Lapid B'Yachad list. Inside the 22-member Arrangements Committee the two blocs sit nine against nine, with four members from the Arab parties, the Joint List and Ra'am, holding the balance.
Likud's proposal, presented by lawmaker Ofir Katz, would have given Netanyahu's bloc the edge and reduced the Arab parties' representation on the committee, and it was voted down. Likud then accused the Eisenkot, Bennett and Liberman parties of voting alongside "supporters of terrorism" and called on them to cease cooperating with the Arab parties and join a unity government instead. Folkman answered that he had tried to reach an understanding with Likud before the vote. Netanyahu renewed his call for a national unity government the same day.
The arithmetic is: Netanyahu's bloc holds 53 seats, Eisenkot's four parties 48, and the Arab parties 19, whose votes take the anti-Netanyahu side to 67. Arab party leaders say that majority will be used to run parliament but not, for now, to sit in a government. The next test is already set: 67 lawmakers have signed a demand for a plenary vote to replace the speaker, Likud's Amir Ohana, with Yashar's Matan Kahana, and the vote is scheduled for next Tuesday. Eisenkot's mandate runs into early December, and coalition talks continue.
Related: Israel's President Hands the Government Mandate to Eisenkot
Related: New Knesset Sworn In Amid Clashes
(Source: Reuters)
Source: Reuters
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：位于耶路撒冷的以色列议会（Knesset）大厦（资料图）。CC0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: The Knesset building in Jerusalem (file photo). CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.
- 2026-10-19Ahead of Next Week's Israeli Election, Polls Put Eisenkot's Bloc at 52 Seats to Netanyahu's 50; Arab Turnout Could Decide Who Governs
- 2026-10-19Hegseth Meets Netanyahu on Unannounced Israel Visit, as Vance Declines to Endorse Netanyahu the Same Day
- 2026-10-20Trump Gives Netanyahu His Complete and Total Endorsement Ahead of Israel's Oct. 27 Election, With a Warning to Iran
- 2026-10-21Bank of Israel Holds Benchmark Rate at 3.25%, Pausing After Three Straight Cuts a Week Before the Election; 2026 Growth Forecast at 5.6%
- 2026-10-26Follow-up: On Election Eve, Netanyahu Touts Trump's Endorsement and Says He Ordered Mossad and IDF to Bring Down Iran's Regime; Rival Cites Fear-Mongering
- 2026-10-27Israel Holds Knesset Election on October 27: 7.33 Million Voters, 12,018 Polling Stations Open Until 10 p.m.
- 2026-10-27Follow-Up: Israel Election Turnout Fastest in 49 Years as 31.5% Vote in First Five Hours; Shekel Jumps Nearly 1% to a Three-Week High
- 2026-10-27Follow-Up: Israel Exit Polls Put Likud First With 25 Seats, but Neither Bloc Reaches the 61 Seats Needed to Govern
- 2026-10-28Follow-up: With Over 70% of Votes Counted in Israel's Election, Netanyahu Bloc Projected at 54 Seats, Still Short of a Majority; Shekel Falls About 2%
- 2026-10-28Follow-Up: With About 86% Counted, Likud Leads Israel Election With 26 Seats but Neither Bloc Has a Majority; Herzog Urges Parties to Avoid Another Election
- 2026-10-29Follow-Up: Israel's Election Chief Asks Shin Bet to Probe Suspected Foreign Interference Within a Week Amid Qatar Funding Claims
- 2026-10-30Israel's Final Election Results: Netanyahu's Bloc Falls Short at 53 Seats, Arab Parties Hold the Balance With 19
- 2026-11-02Follow-Up: Israel's Arab Parties Set to Back Eisenkot to Form a Government, Lifting His Support to 67 Seats
- 2026-11-02Netanyahu Proposes a Broad National Government Under His Leadership: Open to Dialogue, but No Reliance on Arab Parties
- 2026-11-03Follow-Up: Israel's Five Opposition Parties Agree to Recommend Eisenkot to Form the Government
- 2026-11-04President Herzog Receives Israel's Official Election Results and Opens Coalition Consultations, Smallest Parties First
- 2026-11-04Follow-Up: Security Alert at Israel's President's Residence on First Day of Coalition Consultations: Foreign Journalist Flagged for Suspicious Substance Traces, Entry Briefly Halted
- 2026-11-04Israel's Herzog Backs Attorney General as Shin Bet Bid to Question Arab Lawmakers Over Election Interference Is Rejected
- 2026-11-04Follow-Up: Israel's Attorney General Blocks Shin Bet Bid to Question Arab Party Leaders, Citing Lack of Evidence
- 2026-11-05Follow-Up: Ultra-Orthodox Party Withholds Recommendation as Arab Party Backs Eisenkot, Weakening Netanyahu
- 2026-11-05Follow-Up: Joint List Backs Eisenkot, Taking His Endorsements to 67 Against Netanyahu's 46
- 2026-11-05Israel's President Herzog Puts Off Choice of Premier-Designate Until Sunday Despite Eisenkot's 67 Endorsements to Netanyahu's 46
- 2026-11-06Follow-Up: Eisenkot Says Government-Formation Talks Have Made 'Significant Progress,' With 74 Lawmakers Against Netanyahu Staying On
- 2026-11-07Follow-Up: Israeli President Picks Eisenkot to Form the Next Government, Mandate to Be Handed Over on Sunday
- 2026-11-08Follow-Up: Eisenkot Formally Receives Mandate, Vows National Emergency Government and Swift Broad Coalition
- 2026-11-08Eisenkot Accepts the Mandate to Form Israel's Next Government and Sets Four Conditions: His Four Parties Hold Only 48 Seats
- 2026-11-08Trump on Israel's Government Formation: Eisenkot and Netanyahu Have 'Very Similar Views,' Both Strongly Support What I Do
- 2026-11-10Israel's 26th Knesset Opens as Opposition Gathers Signatures to Replace Speaker Ohana
- 2026-11-10Netanyahu Calls for Unity Government at Knesset Swearing-In as Bennett Heckles Over Qatari Advisers and October 7 Inquiry
- 2026-11-11Eisenkot Urges Netanyahu in Letter to Show Restraint on Iran Until a New Government Is Sworn In
- 2026-11-11Israel's New Knesset Holds Its First Vote: Eisenkot Camp Wins the Arrangements Committee 63 to 50, Netanyahu Stays Caretaker PremierThis story
U.S. Central Command Says on November 13 It Shot Down Two Iranian Attack Drones Headed Toward Bahrain, With No Injuries and No Damage, Denying the Revolutionary Guard Claim of a Strike on a U.S. Radar (Follow-Up)2026-11-14
Foreign Ministry: Ninth China International Import Expo Sets New Records for Exhibitors, Exhibition Area and Intended Turnover2026-11-14