Israel's President Herzog gives Gadi Eisenkot first chance to form government

The path to forming a government in Israel remains tangled. President Isaac Herzog has chosen Gadi Eisenkot to try to form the new government. Eisenkot is regarded as the strongest rival of incumbent Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Israel voted last week, but no one won a majority, neither Netanyahu's bloc nor Eisenkot's. The parliament has 120 seats and 61 are needed to form a government, but no single bloc has 61. The President therefore had to hold talks with all the parties.

In the end, President Herzog gave Eisenkot the first chance. The President's office said Eisenkot received 67 recommendations and Netanyahu 46, meaning more parties back Eisenkot.

The President has this power in Israel. The leader of the party with the most seats need not necessarily be called first; whoever can assemble a coalition can be invited. Eisenkot now has 28 days, and if needed he can get 14 more.

Eisenkot is new to politics. He entered politics in 2022. He was earlier in the National Unity party, then left over differences. Last year he formed his own party, "Yashar", which means straight or honest. Since then he has remained Netanyahu's main opponent.

A great personal loss lies behind his entry into politics. His youngest son, Gal Eisenkot, was killed in a blast in northern Gaza in December 2023. He had gone to recover the bodies of two Israelis held hostage by Hamas. Eisenkot says his son's belongings are still in boxes and he has not opened them. In a radio interview he said, "I keep putting off looking at them." Two of his nephews were also killed in Gaza. He believes the Netanyahu government failed to prevent the attack of October 7, 2023. He said, "I cannot turn back time, but I will make every effort to get justice for the price Gal paid." Holding Netanyahu accountable is his main aim.

After the October 7 attack, Eisenkot joined Netanyahu's war cabinet, but he resigned in June 2024. He alleged that Netanyahu was not serious about freeing the hostages.

Netanyahu says Eisenkot had opposed military action in Gaza. According to Netanyahu, Eisenkot had said to strike a deal, free the hostages and leave Gaza. Netanyahu says that had this been done, Hamas would be alive today. Eisenkot has rejected the claim and has asked Netanyahu to make public the records of the war cabinet meetings.

Before the election, Eisenkot said that if elected he would destroy Hamas in 18 months. He does not accept the two-state solution, meaning he does not think a Palestinian state next door is right. But he says relations with the Palestinian Authority have to be redefined. In an interview he said, "I do not want to rule over 2.8 million Palestinians." He supports expansion of the large settlements, but opposes expanding settlement in the E1 area near Jerusalem. An inquiry into the October 7 attack is a major promise of his, while Netanyahu has always refused such an inquiry.

His 10-point programme includes compulsory military or civilian service for all, which would cover ultra-Orthodox Jews and Arab Israelis as well. This has already caused controversy.

Eisenkot was born in Tiberias and grew up in Eilat. His parents came from Morocco and settled in Israel in 1950. The family's economic condition was modest. Jews who came from Morocco and the Middle East are called Mizrahi. No Mizrahi has so far become Israel's prime minister. Mizrahi people call him "Dialina", meaning one of ours. Netanyahu comes from a wealthy family that came from Eastern Europe, so people feel this difference. Eisenkot joined the army at 18, served 40 years and was Chief of Staff from 2015 to 2019.

The question now is whether he can form a government. Netanyahu has contested 10 elections and formed a government six times. He alleges that Eisenkot cannot form a government without the support of Arab parties. Eisenkot has said he will not take Arab parties into the government, but he has not fully closed the option of forming a minority government.