Following a round of discussions with Knesset parties—both among themselves and with those opposed to Benjamin Netanyahu—Israeli President Isaac Herzog, stated a short while ago that he will issue a mandate to form a government on Sunday.
“I am working to form a good and stable government for Israel,” the president said following consultations with representatives of the Yashar! led by Gandi Eisenkot, who recommended to Isaac Herzog that he grant the mandate to their leader.
ΣΧΕΤΙΚΑ ΑΡΘΡΑ
In his remarks, the Israeli president noted that he would hold further talks with party leaders to determine who is in a position to form a government, despite the fact that Eisenkot received the majority of recommendations for the premiership.
The former chief of the Israeli Defense Forces, who leads the Yashar party and has rallied the main opposition forces around him, is now in a position to run for prime minister with the support of parliamentary groups totaling 67 lawmakers. However, several of those who say they are ready to nominate him for prime minister refuse to participate in the government itself.
This contradiction explains why, one week after the Israeli elections on October 27, Netanyahu still has political breathing room, despite the fact that his coalition has lost its parliamentary majority.
Another 46 members of parliament endorsed incumbent Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Representatives of the religious party United Torah Judaism chose not to nominate any candidate, a blow to Netanyahu, as the party had supported his outgoing government.
“The results of the consultations seem clear,” Herzog said. “However, the authority granted to me by law is to determine who has the ability to form a government, and that is not entirely clear, given the mutual vetoes between the political coalitions and within the coalitions themselves.”
Herzog’s deadline to select a candidate formally expires on Wednesday, November 11. Netanyahu will remain prime minister of a caretaker government until a new coalition is formed or until new elections are held, which must take place if no candidate succeeds. Herzog also called on the parties to make every effort to prevent another round of elections.
In the elections, Netanyahu won the most seats, but his coalition, with the forces emerging from the new Knesset, does not have enough support for a stable government.
Difficulties in Forming a Government
However, the “yes” for Eisenkot may be enough to secure a majority in the Knesset, but forming a government—as the president himself has stated—is by no means easy.
First of all, Eisenkot, like Netanyahu, has ruled out forming a government with Israel’s two Arab parties. However, both Arab parties have come out in support of Eisenkot, securing him the backing of a comfortable majority of Knesset members.
Eizenkot’s coalition includes four parties ranging from the center-left to the right. The two parties representing the Arab minority won 19 seats, an unprecedented number that proved decisive for the formation of a future government.
In this context, the Eizenkot Party is asking Herzog to entrust it with the mandate to form a government as soon as possible.
In a statement, Yashar points out that the 67 recommendations gathered by Eisenkot represent the highest number of supportive endorsements received by a prime ministerial candidate since 2015. The party argues that the outcome of the consultations reflects Israelis’ desire for political change, as well as a “complete lack of trust” in Netanyahu and his government.
“Benjamin Netanyahu is a caretaker prime minister, leading a minority government with just 46 seats. He has no mandate, no parliamentary majority, and no public confidence,” the statement notes.
Yashar calls on President Herzog to assign “as soon as possible” the exploratory mandate to Eisenkot so that he can form a national emergency government, which will take action for the benefit of all Israeli citizens.
At the same time, he calls on all political leaders who wish the best for the country to rise to the occasion and set aside narrow partisan and personal agendas, so that a government can be formed without delay.
Finally, he warns that failing to seize this opportunity could come at a “heavy price” for the country, leading to new elections against the will of the Israeli people.
Herzog’s
Statement Following the conclusion of a round of consultations with all parliamentary factions at the presidential residence, the President of Israel announced that he intends to grant the exploratory mandate to form a government this coming Sunday.
“My intention is to assign the mandate to form a government this coming Sunday. Based on the current situation, representatives of the parties holding a total of 67 seats in the Knesset have nominated the chairman of the Yashar party, Gandi Eisenkot, as their candidate, while representatives of the factions holding 46 seats proposed Prime Minister and Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu,” he said.
The Israeli president noted, however, that although the results of the consultations appear clear at first glance, questions remain regarding the possibility of forming a government.
“The results of the consultations appear clear in theory. However, the authority granted to me by law is to determine who has the ability to form a government. This is not entirely clear, due to the mutual exclusions that exist both between the political blocs and within them,” Herzog said.
He added that he intends to explore the issue immediately by holding one-on-one talks with some of the party leaders.
“During these discussions, I intend to explore every possible avenue in order to encourage the political forces to reach out to one another and contribute to the formation of a stable and effective government for the people of Israel,” the country’s president concluded.
Likud Puts Its Cards on the Table for a Government of National Unity – Clash with Herzog
Likud lawmakers emphasized the need for opposition parties to participate in a broad national unity government during their consultation with Israeli President Isaac Herzog. As they argued, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s exclusionary stance toward parties in the opposing political bloc constitutes an obstacle to achieving national consensus.
Member of Knesset Yoav Kish advocated for the formation of a “broad national government” that would include Zionist parties with Jewish leadership. As he argued, Israel cannot address the major challenges it faces with a government that would depend on Arab parties which, according to him, “support terrorism.”
At the same time, he accused opposition leaders of refusing to cooperate with Likud, noting that this stance has caused “enormous damage” to Israel.
Herzog asked Kis to clarify what concessions Likud is willing to make in order to make a coalition government possible. The lawmaker replied that he did not know exactly what his party could concede, but insisted that the opposition must abandon its boycott and engage in dialogue. “They must stop the boycott and come talk with us,” he said.
MP Miri Regev echoed this sentiment, arguing that Likud is extending a hand of cooperation to the opposition. However, she launched an attack against the head of the Yashar party, Gandi Eisenkot, as well as his political coalition, which she called a “block of destruction,” arguing that they are willing to cooperate with the Arab Joint List (Joint List).
Her statement prompted a response from the Israeli president, who countered that Eisenkot had not stated that he intended to cooperate with that particular faction. At the same time, he criticized Regev’s choice of words, emphasizing: “If you want to extend a hand, you cannot call the other side a ‘block of destruction.’”
The Likud lawmaker responded that her party rejects only political forces that support terrorism, accusing the Arab lawmakers of refusing to designate Hamas as a terrorist organization. For his part, Herzog recalled that the leader of the Ra’am party, Mansour Abbas, had stated during his own consultation that he supports the disarmament of Hamas.
Likud representatives also raised the issue of the stance taken by Yoram Cohen, second in command at Yashar, accusing him of failing to mention—during his meeting with the president earlier that evening—that recognizing Hamas as a terrorist organization by the coalition partners. Herzog replied that he had not noticed the omission, noting that Cohen had stated that the parties in that bloc would have to commit to dismantling Hamas.
Also noteworthy was the intervention by the newly elected Likud lawmaker, Tali Gvili, who joined the party following the murder and abduction of her son, Ran Gvili, in Gaza during the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023. She called on politicians to rekindle the spirit of unity that, she said, had prevailed in Israeli society at the start of the war.
“You have the power to unite us,” she said, addressing Herzog.
Finally, when Regev was asked what the government intends to change compared to its previous four-year term in order to reduce the division in Israeli society, the lawmaker avoided taking responsibility for the polarization, shifting the blame to the opposition.
