Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called for a unity government under his leadership as opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot begins a 28-day effort to assemble a coalition after Israel’s election.
President Isaac Herzog gave Eisenkot the mandate on Nov. 8 after consultations. Factions representing 67 lawmakers had recommended Eisenkot, compared with 46 for Netanyahu; United Torah Judaism’s seven lawmakers recommended neither. Herzog said the recommendations informed his choice, along with the consultations and his assessment of who could form a government. They did not commit lawmakers to support a future coalition. Herzog also cited precedent for giving the mandate to a leader whose party was not the largest; Likud won 27 seats.
A hypothetical alignment of the 46 lawmakers represented by factions recommending Netanyahu with United Torah Judaism’s seven seats would total 53, eight short of the 61 needed for a majority in the 120-member Knesset. The calculation does not establish that those lawmakers would all support a Netanyahu-led government.
In a Nov. 9 video statement, Netanyahu called for a unity government led by Likud and including his existing allies and other parties. In an analysis for The Jerusalem Post, Anna Barsky described Netanyahu’s effort to attract opposition lawmakers and ultra-Orthodox leaders, while reporting that some Likud officials saw military conscription terms as a risk to the party’s hold on United Torah Judaism. Barsky identified an arrangement acceptable to the faction as a potential boost to Eisenkot’s coalition effort and a possible loss for Netanyahu.
Eisenkot’s core opposition parties hold 48 seats, while Arab-led parties have 19. Ra’am has sought a role in a possible Eisenkot government, as EconoTimes previously reported on its bid.
Eisenkot has 28 days to form a government, and Herzog may grant an extension of up to 14 days. If the effort fails, Herzog may turn to another willing lawmaker or tell the Knesset speaker that he sees no prospect of forming a government; the mandate would not pass automatically to Netanyahu.
