Read more: Israel's Choice
First, Eisenkot would need to bring together rival political parties with disparate policy views and governing priorities in order to form a voting majority. By joining his coalition, parties are effectively endorsing Eisenkot as the next Prime Minister. But he has several obstacles to overcome before he can get the number of seats that he needs.
In last month’s election, no party bloc secured the 61 seats needed to form a majority in the 120-seat parliament. This means that little has been decided about future leadership. But the process is still in motion.
Voters must be physically present on Election Day, with extremely rare absentee exceptions, and it is a public holiday. According to The Atlantic, an estimated 67,000 Israeli citizens living outside of the country traveled back this year in order to cast their ballots.
Based on the percentage of votes cast, each party is then allotted a certain number of representatives in the Knesset.
“If you just count the number of votes for each party, Netanyahu's party got the most votes, but because it's a parliamentary system, and you need a simple majority to form a government, he was far away from actually establishing a government,” Steven Cook, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, tells TIME.
Either Netanyahu’s bloc or Eisenkot’s bloc could reach a majority by joining forces with both Arab-led parties, giving them 72 or 67 seats, respectively. Alternatively, the two rival blocs would hold 101 seats if they joined together—but any such agreement would require negotiations over who would serve as Prime Minister.
Parties within an electoral bloc can also negotiate separately. For example, either Eisenkot or Netanyahu could court one of the Arab-led parties without needing to necessarily sway the other. However, parties within a bloc tend to share similar outlooks on policy and representation.
Shira Efron, a senior fellow at Rand, a global policy think tank, says that voters should take note of Tuesday’s announcement that the opposition bloc agreed to appoint Matan Kahana, who belongs to Eisenkot’s Yashar party, as the next Knesset Speaker and Avigdor Lieberman, leader of Yisrael Beytenu, as Head of Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, reflecting a distinct vision for parliament and a willingness to begin the work.
Caretaker Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu looks on during a speech at the Israeli parliament (Knesset) during the opening day of the new parliament in Jerusalem on Nov. 10, 2026. —Ilia Yefimovich—AFP via Getty Images
Why was Eisenkot chosen to form Israel’s next government?
While the presidency is largely ceremonial in Israel, their power is particularly pronounced in the aftermath of an Israeli election. They consult with the leaders of each political party and pick the person who they believe is most likely to successfully bring together disparate parties to form a governing coalition.
Another factor, however, was taken into account: 67 out of 120 Knesset members endorsed Eisenkot to Herzog during consultations last week, while only 46 endorsed Netanyahu.
Herzog’s tapping of Eisenkot is not an endorsement. Rather, it signifies that Herzog sees Eisenkot as the clearest path to forming a government.
“Obviously, there's a range of complications associated with that,” he says, “which is what is making coalition-building difficult.”
The clearest path to government for Eisenkot would be securing support from the two Arab-led parties—the Joint List and Ra’am—to gain their 19 seats.
According to the Times of Israel, Yair Golan, Chairman of the Democrats, is the only leader of the four Jewish-led parties backing Eisenkot to publicly support a coalition with the Joint List and Ra’am. Naftali Bennett, leader of the B'Yachad party, and Lieberman are both nationalist leaders who oppose the idea of becoming reliant on Arab partners.
Cook points out that they can still pledge support from “the outside,” which means voting alongside Eisenkot, and giving him the majority in parliament, without joining his coalition.
The Joint List has said it would support an alternative government from outside the coalition, but Lieberman has rejected outright a government reliant on outside support from Arab-led parties.
But that would likely be even more difficult, given that the ultra-Orthodox parties oppose compulsory military service for yeshiva students. On Oct. 31, Eisenkot shared a post on social media that outlined his four core demands for any political faction looking to join his upcoming “national emergency government,” including a mandate of national service for all Israelis.
Can Netanyahu stay in power?
He is also free to make outreach efforts in the attempt to form his own coalition, which might involve swaying those who did not endorse him in their initial conversations with Herzog.
If someone else is named, they would be given 28 days to make an attempt, without the possibility of an extension.
If no candidate receives the required backing, or that final attempt fails, the Knesset is automatically dissolved and elections must take place within 90 days.
This kind of deadlock would not be new for Israel: Between 2019 and 2022, the country held five elections as parties struggled to find common ground.
If given the chance to form his own government, Netanyahu would face an uphill battle: Eisenkot and his allies have vowed not to sit in government with him and have accused him of ignoring warnings ahead of Hamas’s attacks on Oct. 7, 2023.
While the contest may appear to hinge on the persuasive powers of Eisenkot and Netanyahu, leaders like Bennett and Lieberman could ultimately decide who governs Israel. Their choice may come down to which compromise they are more willing to make.
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