Jerusalem (AFP) – The leader of the opposition bloc to outgoing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Gadi Eisenkot, will be officially tasked on Sunday with forming the next Israeli government, the presidency said on Saturday evening.

Published on: 08/11/2026 - 11:16

While no majority emerged from the polls after the legislative elections of October 27, the different parties embarked on arduous negotiations to try to form a majority, in a politically very fragmented country.

After twelve days of negotiations, opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot, former chief of staff and political novice, appeared best placed, with the support of 67 deputies, compared to 46 for Benjamin Netanyahu.

“President (Isaac) Herzog invited Gadi Eisenkot to the presidential residence, where he will entrust him tomorrow, at 5 p.m., with the mission of forming the government,” the presidency said in a statement.

Mr. Eisenkot, aged 66, will then have 28 days to try to form a government.

“The time has come to form a government of national emergency. I will do everything possible to ensure that we are up to the task,” he reacted on X after the announcement of the presidency.

His Yashar party earlier called on members of Mr Netanyahu's Likud to join the government.

“If Likud and its allies suddenly become interested in ‘unity’ and a large government, they are welcome to publicly announce the dissolution of their alliance with the extremists (...) and their desire to join a government led by (...) Eisenkot,” the group wrote on X.

The opposition leader also opened the door on Friday to an alliance - which would have previously seemed improbable - with the ultra-Orthodox parties and whose 13 votes could be necessary to form a coalition.

He can also boast the support of the two main Arab parties, the Joint List and Raam, which made a spectacular breakthrough during the election and collected 19 seats.

Netanyahu's warning

But Avigdor Liberman, whose Israel Beitenou party is the smallest member of the opposition bloc with seven seats, reiterated Friday that he "firmly" refused any pact with the Arab parties, even within the framework of a minority government that the latter would indirectly support in the Knesset.

In a society traumatized by the October 7 attack, accepting the outstretched hand of the Palestinians of Israel, as the Israeli Arabs representing around 20% of the population are also referred to, risks in fact turning away a part of the Jewish electorate.

Benjamin Netanyahu knows this well and has denigrated Arab groups throughout his posts on social networks, which he presents as "supporters of terrorists" threatening to "Islamize Israel".

He issued a new warning Saturday evening, saying that a coalition government with Arab parties "will dismantle the State of Israel from within."

Benjamin Netanyahu, who spent more than 19 years at the head of government, built his career on an image of "Mr. Security", deeply damaged by the unprecedented attack by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas on October 7, 2023.

To try to forget this failure, during the electoral campaign he played the "me or chaos" card, presenting himself as the only one capable of guaranteeing Israel's survival.

However, this week he lost significant support, that of an ultra-Orthodox party, the United Torah Judaism party, which had been his ally for three decades.

A disavowal which can be explained by tensions around the delicate question of the conscription of religious students to which the ultra-Orthodox parties are fiercely opposed.

If Gadi Eisenkot, son of Moroccan Jews, managed to form a government, he would be the first Sephardic head of government (Jews from North Africa and the Middle East) in the history of Israel.

© 2026 AFP

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