President Isaac Herzog gave opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot the first mandate to form Israel’s next government on Nov. 8, while The Jerusalem Post reported an unverified Trump assessment of Eisenkot and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The Jerusalem Post said U.S. President Donald Trump viewed the two Israeli politicians as holding similar policy positions. The newspaper quoted Trump as saying, “They’re both strong on what I do.” The newspaper’s account is unverified.
The Associated Press reported that Herzog formally gave Eisenkot the opportunity on Nov. 8. The Israeli presidency said a day earlier that factions representing 67 Knesset members recommended Eisenkot, compared with factions representing 46 for Netanyahu; a faction representing seven members made no recommendation. Herzog selected Eisenkot after consultations in which factions representing more Knesset members recommended him than backed Netanyahu.
The recommendations did not establish whether Eisenkot could assemble a governing coalition. The Associated Press reported that neither leading bloc won a majority in Israel’s 120-member Knesset in the Oct. 27 election, making coalition negotiations necessary. The Knesset’s final results show Likud won 27 seats and Yashar won 21.
Trump endorsed Netanyahu for reelection in an Oct. 18 post on Truth Social. EconoTimes previously covered Trump’s pre-election support for Netanyahu.
Eisenkot has 28 days to form a government, the Israeli presidency said. Herzog may extend the mandate by up to 14 days.
