Eisenkot Begins Bid to Form Israel's Next Government

Gadi Eisenkot, a former Israeli military chief and leader of the Yashar party, began on Sunday the task of forming Israel's next government. President Isaac Herzog, who holds the country's largely ceremonial head-of-state role but also decides which lawmaker is first asked to build a government, gave him a 28-day mandate to do so. The Guardian reported the development.

Israel's parliament, the Knesset, has 120 seats. Eisenkot needs 61 of them to replace Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to Al Jazeera. In the October elections, Eisenkot's opposition bloc won 48 seats, while Netanyahu's camp won 53.

Eisenkot has reached out to Netanyahu's allies, including the Likud party and the far-right party led by Bezalel Smotrich, about joining a government with Eisenkot as prime minister. Both Arab-majority lists endorsed him during consultations with Herzog at the President's Residence. Eisenkot has set conditions for Arab parties to take part, including recognition of Israel as a Jewish state and the designation of Hamas as a terrorist organisation.

Not every party is willing to join. The Yisrael Beiteinu party said it will not join a coalition that includes Arab-led parties. The United Torah Judaism faction did not recommend any lawmaker to form a government during the consultations.

Eisenkot has blamed Netanyahu for the current situation. He said the prime minister had brought Israel to a historic crisis, and that the country is approaching a "point of no return." He also said Israel must form a national emergency government, which he said would require creative and unconventional political steps.

Eisenkot formally received the mandate at a ceremony at the President's Residence on Sunday at 5 p.m. Reuters and PBS NewsHour report that he may receive a 14-day extension to his mandate. If he does not succeed, Netanyahu would likely be given a chance to form a government.