Israeli president tasks Eisenkot with forming new government

Israeli President Isaac Herzog has announced he will ask opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot to attempt to form a new coalition government. The decision follows discussions with political parties after neither Eisenkot's bloc nor that of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu won a majority in the Knesset, Israel's parliament, in last week's election.

Eisenkot will have 28 days to put together a government, with the possibility of a 14-day extension if needed. The former military chief said on social media platform X that the moment called for the creation of a national emergency government, adding that he would work to prove his bloc's worthiness for the task.

Israel has never had a single party win an outright majority in the Knesset, meaning every government has been formed through coalition-building. In the recent election, Netanyahu's Likud party, together with far-right and ultra-Orthodox allies, secured 53 of the 120 seats, while Eisenkot's centrist Yashar party and three other opposition parties took 48 seats.

Two Arab-led political alliances, the United Arab List and the Joint List, won a combined 19 seats, an unprecedented result driven by higher turnout among Arab voters. This outcome gives them significant influence over any coalition negotiations, although nearly all Jewish parties had committed before the election not to partner with them in government.