Israel's president has chosen opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot to try to form the country's next government, passing over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after last month's deadlocked election.

President Isaac Herzog announced the decision on Saturday evening, 7 November, and invited Eisenkot, leader of the centrist Yashar party, to the President's Residence in Jerusalem for a formal ceremony on Sunday, 8 November, at 5 p.m. Eisenkot will then have 28 days to assemble a coalition, with a possible 14-day extension.

The decision followed two days of consultations with the parties elected to the new Knesset. Factions representing 67 of its 120 members recommended Eisenkot, while 46 backed Netanyahu; seven ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism members declined to endorse either.

The numbers do not tell the whole story. In the 27 October election, Netanyahu's bloc won 53 seats, Likud the largest single party on 27, while Eisenkot's alliance won 48, Yashar taking 21. A government needs 61 seats, and the 67 recommendations for Eisenkot include 19 from two Arab-led parties, the Joint List and Ra'am, with which he has ruled out forming a government.

Herzog warned the outcome was uncertain, saying his task under the law was to determine who had the ability to form a government, and that was not entirely clear given mutual vetoes between and within the blocs.

Eisenkot, 66, is a former chief of the Israeli General Staff who has said he would not serve in a government led by Netanyahu, and has spoken of forming what he calls a National Emergency Government. Netanyahu remains caretaker prime minister, and the new Knesset is due to be sworn in on 10 November.

For now the mandate is a first step, not a government. Eisenkot has a month to turn a recommendation into a coalition that can govern.

[Source: wamc.org](https://www.wamc.org/2026-11-07/israels-president-taps-opposition-candidate-not-netanyahu-to-form-a-government) | [Source: tbsnews.net](https://www.tbsnews.net/worldbiz/middle-east/israeli-president-picks-gadi-eisenkot-netanyahu-rival-try-form-govt-1595886)