Israeli President Isaac Herzog chose Gadi Eisenkot. As announced on the evening of Saturday 7 November, the leader of the centrist Yashar party will be given the task of forming the next executive. The official announcement, according to reports in the Israeli press including Haaretz and Walla, will be held tomorrow, Sunday 8 November, at 5pm at the President’s Residence in Jerusalem. The decision was made at the end of the round of consultations with representatives of the factions of the 26th Knesset. Eisenkot obtained the support of deputies for a total of 67 seats, compared to the 46 obtained by outgoing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
What happens now
The candidate selected by Herzog will have 28 days to form a government, with the possibility for the head of state to grant an extension of up to a maximum of 14 additional days. If the representative in charge fails to compose a coalition within the established time, as the Jerusalem Post reminds us, he will have to inform the president of the failure of the attempt. At that point, the head of state will have three days to decide whether to entrust the mandate to another parliamentarian or communicate to the president of the Knesset the impossibility of forming an executive. A possible second candidate would have a further 28 days, without any possibility of extension.
The possible scenarios
If the second attempt also fails, or if the president decides not to appoint another member, a 21-day window would open within which a majority of at least 61 deputies could jointly request to entrust the role to a third candidate, who would then have only 14 days to reach an agreement. If all avenues fail, the Knesset would be automatically dissolved, sending the country back to the polls. Until the vote of confidence of the new executive, the outgoing administration will remain in office for current affairs as an interim government.
Netanyahu’s words
In the afternoon, Benjamin Netanyahu had called for the “formation of a government of national unity that includes all the parties of the national camp and all the Zionist political forces that want to protect our country”. “A government of national unity – he added – will definitively eliminate the Iranian nuclear threat, protect Israel as a Jewish state and re-establish unity among us”.
While calling for national harmony, Netanyahu nevertheless specified that a possible agreement should include all his allies from the latest coalition: the ultranationalist formations Religious Zionism and Otzma Yehudit, the ultra-Orthodox parties and the Likud. However, the outgoing prime minister has not indicated who should lead the new executive.