Haim Zach / GPO / CC BY-SA 3.0
President Isaac Herzog conferred the mandate to form Israel’s next government on Yashar party chairman Gadi Eisenkot at the President’s Residence in Jerusalem on Sunday, a live report from the ceremony said, starting the 28-day period for him to assemble a coalition.
Eisenkot can ask Herzog for an extension of up to 14 additional days under Article 8 of Basic Law: The Government. The mandate opens the formal coalition-building period following Herzog’s Saturday announcement of his choice.
During Herzog’s consultations with party delegations on Wednesday and Thursday, Eisenkot received 67 recommendations for the premiership, a majority in the 120-member Knesset, while Netanyahu received 46, according to the Times of Israel. The seven-seat United Torah Judaism party recommended neither candidate. The recommendations are party tallies, not coalition commitments or votes.
“Now is the time for the formation of a national emergency government,” Eisenkot wrote after the announcement, adding, “I will do everything to make us worthy.” Netanyahu, in a video statement, called on the Eisenkot-led bloc to form what he called a “national unity government,” though he said it would have to include all of his allies.
Update: November 8, 2026, 1:50 a.m. EST (8:50 a.m. Israel time). A Sunday report, citing an unnamed senior member of Ra’am, said the eight-seat party would support a government presented by Eisenkot even if a coalition agreement had not been finalized. This is reported prospective support, not an announced coalition deal or a completed Knesset vote.
According to the report, Ra’am wants to avoid leaving Eisenkot’s 48-member bloc dependent on United Torah Judaism. The Joint List would not vote in favor of such a government but would not act to topple it, the report said. Both Arab-led parties reportedly intend to cooperate with Eisenkot’s bloc on replacing the Knesset speaker and setting up committees. No coalition talks are ongoing with the Joint List, according to the same account.
Update: November 8, 2026, 2:02 a.m. EST (9:02 a.m. Israel time). Requests to replace Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana reportedly carry more than 61 signatures, according to a Sunday account. The report said parties in the bloc seeking to replace Netanyahu and the Arab parties had submitted requests. Ohana said that if 61 signatures are submitted, he will allow a vote to elect a replacement within a week. The requests are not a completed vote, and the report does not identify a replacement who has been chosen.
Significant obstacles remain. Hawkish members of Eisenkot’s bloc publicly oppose any reliance on the Arab-led parties, many bloc members campaigned on sending both Netanyahu and the ultra-Orthodox parties into opposition, and Eisenkot has repeatedly said he will not partner with Netanyahu. Yashar said Saturday night that Likud could join an Eisenkot-led coalition “without extremists,” but did not extend that offer to Netanyahu himself.
JBizNews Desk | Jerusalem, Israel
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